


The Goddaughter

by BakeItTillYouMakeIt



Category: The Godfather (1972 1974 1990)
Genre: Attempted Murder, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Cheating, Childbirth, Domestic Violence, F/M, Italian Mafia, Murder, Original Character(s), Period-Typical Sexism, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:08:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 33,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25055953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BakeItTillYouMakeIt/pseuds/BakeItTillYouMakeIt
Summary: The Godfather didn't earn his moniker for no reason, he has a myriad of godchildren: among which is Vitalia Fiore Lionetti. After spending most of her life living in the Corleone home, is it really so strange that she developed feelings for their youngest son? Will they be able to reconnect at Connie's wedding? Will Michael return her feelings? How will Sollozzo affect both of them?
Relationships: Carlo Rizzi/Connie Corleone Rizzi, Carmela Corleone/Vito Corleone, Michael Corleone/Original Female Character(s), Sandra Colombo Corleone/Sonny Corleone, Theresa Hagen/Tom Hagen
Comments: 19
Kudos: 60





	1. The Ceremony and Reception, Part One

September of 1945 was a happy time for Don Corleone and his wife Carmela. World War II had ended, their youngest son had returned from it safely, and now their only daughter was getting married. Of course, the last of those events did cause a minor rift but most of it seemed to have resolved by the time the wedding day arrived. 

At least, that was the hope of twenty-three-year-old Vitalia Lionetti, the goddaughter of Don Corleone and his wife, who had been witness to almost every single family conflict leading up to this happy day. Then again, that was to be expected when you lived with the Corleones on a daily basis. 

“Lia!” 

Vitalia jumped at the shout of her nickname, one that only the Corleones could use. She spun on her short heels and made her way out of the kitchen and up to the second floor of the house, where the bride was shrieking for her to join her. 

“What is it, Connie?” Vitalia asked while slowly pushing the door to her room open. 

Inside, Connie Corleone stood with Sandra Corleone and Lucy Mancini in her wedding dress, looking close to tears and not in a good way. Vitalia frowned and walked over, her light blue dress whispering as it ruffled while she moved. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked gently. Connie groaned miserably and swiped at her eyes. 

“We can’t get the veil to stick in my hair, and the pins keep falling out, and-” 

Vitalia held up a hand to cut her off and gently reached out to grab Connie’s shoulders to guide her into a seat in front of her mirror. 

“Don’t you worry, I’ll get this sorted out,” She murmured reassuringly. Connie sniffled and smiled weakly at her through the mirror. 

“Promise?” Vitalia laughed and nodded before pressing a quick kiss to Connie’s cheek. 

“Yes, I promise,” She turned to look over at Sandra and Lucy. “Can you let the others know I won’t be able to help with some of the prep?”

Sandra and Lucy nodded before dashing downstairs to help everything get organized. Meanwhile, Vitalie began deftly maneuvering Connie’s thick and curly tendrils into an intricate updo with a tad more stability than the one Sandra and Lucy had been attempting to pull off. Connie sighed in relief as she watched the style come to life before her very eyes. 

“You’re an angel,” She praised, beaming at Vitalia as she fasted down another section with some pins. 

“Nope, I’ve just been doing your hair for years,” Vitalia teased. “I know all the pitfalls like the back of my hand.”

Connie laughed and nodded slowly while Vitalia carefully slipped the veil into her hair before fluffing out the fabric so it billowed nicely. She gasped as she stood and turned to look into a full-length mirror. Vitalia grinned at her. 

“Did I get it right?” She asked jokingly. 

Connie nodded enthusiastically and turned to hug her tightly. Vitalia hummed and hugged Connie back just as tight before they were interrupted by a knock on the door. They shouted for the person to come in, and the door opened to reveal Santino “Sonny” Corleone, the eldest child of the Corleone family. His eyes widened when they landed on his baby sister, and a face-splitting grin appeared on his face. 

“You’ve outdone yourself, sis,” Sonny praised before coming over to pull Connie into a tight hug. “You too, Lia. Only you could’ve made her hair look this good!”

  
Vitalia laughed while Connie gave a scoff of mock outrage. “I can style my hair just fine, thank you!”

“Thank you, Sonny,” Vitalia interjected. “Are we ready to head to the church?”

Sonny nodded. “Yeah, all the cars are ready, everyone’s here, let’s go.”

Vitalia nodded and ushered Connie out of the room with Sonny before running to her own bedroom and grabbing the finishing touches of her outfit, which consisted of her deceased mother’s pearl necklace and matching earrings. With one last twirl in front of the mirror and a quick change of stockings, Vitalia nodded once with approval before dashing down the stairs to meet the rest of the family and climb into the car that would take her to the ceremony. 

<>

“Vita!” Two squeaky voices shouted as the family began filing into the church. 

Vitalia wheeled around to see Sonny’s twin daughters running over to her with bright smiles. She grinned and pulled the two of them into a tight hug. 

“Have you two been behaving for your mother?” Vitalia asked sternly. The two girls, Francesca and Kathryn, nodded quickly. 

“We’ve been very good,” Francesca piped up. 

“Yes, Ma hasn’t had to yell at us once!” Kathryn added. Vitalia nodded in approval and carefully pulled them back into a hug. 

“Good, now go back to your mother so you all can sit down,” The twins nodded, “And be on your best behavior. This is Aunt Connie’s special day,” Vitalia reminded them. 

The twins nodded and bolted off while Sonny and Fredo approached. Vitalia smiled at them, but only truly acknowledged Sonny as she had never been terribly close to Fredo. 

“You’re a lifesaver, Lia,” Sonny complimented with a quick hug. Vitalia laughed and hugged him back. 

“Your children are delightful, it’s no problem for me to look out for them,” She gently elbowed Sonny in the ribs, “Besides, we’re family and family looks out for each other.”

Sonny nodded before becoming distracted with another arrival. Vitalia paled and turned on her heel to walk further into the church and take her seat with several of the children, having been tasked with restraining them so the wedding would be as uninterrupted as possible. Meanwhile, Michael Corleone walked over to Sonny with a smile. 

“Hey, Mikey!” Sonny cheered, pulling his youngest brother into a tight hug. Michael chuckled and hugged him back before they parted. 

“Hey Sonny, Fredo,” Michael greeted. Fredo smiled and hugged him too. 

“Hey Mikey,” He replied. “You excited?”

Michael laughed and nodded before walking away from the throng of people filing to their seats with his brothers. “It’s not every day your baby sis gets married,” He admitted. 

Sonny nodded. “Yeah, especially not before her older brothers,” He teased, grinning at Michael and Fredo, who rolled their eyes. “Lia will probably get married before either of you.”

Michael frowned at that. “Where is Lia, by the way? Is she a bridesmaid?”

Sonny shook his head. “She’s somewhere in the church, wrangling the kids while the rest of us try to get everything ready. Why, you need to talk to her?”

Michael opened his mouth to respond before shaking his head no. At that moment, Fredo decided to pipe up. 

“I thought you were gonna bring a girlfriend, Mike,” He wondered. Michael hummed in response. 

“She’ll be coming to the reception. Pops didn’t want someone who wasn’t Italian at the ceremony,” He explained. 

Fredo and Sonny nodded in understanding before their mother ran over and told them to get into their places for the ceremony. While they rushed off, Michael moved into the main chamber of the church and let his eyes scan over the pews until they landed on a slim figure in a sky-blue dress surrounded by most of the Corleone children. 

“Lia-” Before Michael could actually get her attention, one of his relatives pulled him into his own pew, leaving him to stare at his parents’ goddaughter from a distance as she quietly entertained the children. 

<>

The ceremony was a gorgeous success, and when it ended the entire assemblage of friends and family were delighted at the thought of the massive reception that would be occurring at the Corleone household. That is everybody except Vitalia. 

She had seen Michael Corleone for the first time since he had left for the war, and every suppressed feeling and memory she had towards him had rushed to the surface. She had not expected it to hurt as much as it did. She had not expected to be reminded of how she’d poured her heart out for him just before he left, only for him to turn and leave without a response. 

_“Michael?” A nineteen-year-old Vitalia Lionetti was standing on the porch with Michael as he smoked a cigarette, waiting for his cab to arrive._

_“Yes, Lia?” He looked over at her. She smiled sadly at him, knowing he would be leaving any day now to serve for the Marines._

_“Will you write to me? While you’re fighting?” Vitalia asked._

_Michael smiled, remembering their little tradition. Ever since he had gone to college, and then when Vitalia did too, they wrote letters to one another every single week. He took another drag of his cigarette and nodded._

_“‘Course I will,” He paused. “I might not get all your letters, depending on what’s happening, but I’ll always write to you.”_

_Vitalia’s eyes dimmed even further at the reminder of how close she and the rest of his family might come to losing him in this war. She took a deep breath and moved to stand in front of him._

_“Then, I want to tell you something. This way,” She paused and shivered as the cold December wind washed over her. “This way you’ll know, and I won’t have to worry about you never knowing.”_

_Michael frowned. “What is it, Lia?”_

_Vitalia looked up at him and vaguely registered the sound of his cab arriving. “I’m in love with you, Michael. I’ve been in love with you since I was sixteen years old.”_

_He didn’t say anything. His face didn’t even change._

_“Michael,” Vitalia tried. “I just wanted you to know that before you went away. Before I might lose you.”_

_Once again, he was silent. Silent as he walked right past her without another word and climbed into his cab before disappearing. Vitalia, however, remained on the porch, and never told anyone about that moment; her own feelings of humiliation enough to bear as punishment._

And now, according to Sonny, she would have to see him with a girlfriend. A girlfriend who wasn’t an Italian, who wasn’t like his family, the exact opposite of her. The thought forced bile into her throat and made her cringe. 

“You okay, Vitalia?” Fredo asked gently. Vitalia forced herself from her thoughts and sent a minute smile his way. 

“Yes, I’m fine, Fredo,” She murmured. He raised an eyebrow at her but made no comment as she turned her attention back to the window of the car as they drove back to the Corleone home. 

<>

The reception was the epitome of grandeur. Food was everywhere, a dance floor had been meticulously laid out and came hand in hand with a live band, and everyone was ready for a celebration. 

“Lia!” Connie shouted as she and Carlo took a seat at the head table with the bridesmaids and groomsmen. “Lia, come here!”

Vitalia looked up from Gianna Hagen and little Frankie Corleone, who were listening to a story with rapture as their respective parents moved around the reception, and took their hands in hers while she made her way over to Connie. She smiled at the bride and groom as she approached. 

“Congratulations you two,” She greeted. Connie and Carlo smiled back, the latter of the two allowing his eyes to roam just a bit. 

“Aw, thanks darling,” Connie cooed. “Now, leave those kids alone and relax! This is a party!”

Vitalia laughed. “Oh Connie, I wouldn’t do that to Sandra and Theresa! They’re full-time moms, and deserve a break on a fine day like this.”

“Well, at least dance with someone, alright?” Connie begged. “You could even dance with Papa and it’d be fine with me.”

Vitalia rolled her eyes and shook her head fondly before leaning in to press a kiss to each of Connie’s cheeks as a farewell. The bride scoffed but smiled and allowed her to walk away and join the younger children. 

“Lia! Lia!” Frank whined, rushing over to grab at her light blue skirt. “Fran and Kathy won't let me play with them! I asked nicely and they still said no!”

“Well, then I think you’ll have to find someone else to play with, Frankie,” Vitalia explained soothingly while taking his hand in hers and leading him back to where the rest of the children were sitting. “How about you play with Andy?” She suggested while pointing to Tom’s eldest son. 

Frank grinned and ran over to his playmate without another word, leaving Vitalia to walk over to the girls, Francesca, Kathryn, and Gianna. “What are we playing over here, girls?” She asked sweetly. 

Francesca looked up at her and beamed. “Hi, Auntie Vita!” She cheered. “We’re playing princess, Kathy and Gia are my ladies in waiting for this round. They do my hair and pretend to do my nails and then we switch!” She explained. 

Vitalia smiled down at them. “That sounds lovely, girls. Let me know if you need help, alright?”

Kathryn nodded excitedly. “We will, Auntie! You are the best at doing hair, after all,” She confessed. Vitalie laughed and patted her head lovingly. 

“Well, your Aunt Connie certainly thinks so,” She admitted. “Doesn’t she look beautiful today, girls?”

Francesca and Kathryn nodded again with Gianna. “She looks like a princess! A beautiful Sicilian princess!” Gianna crowed. Vitalia nodded in agreement. 

“She is rather stunning, so make sure you tell her that okay? I think it’ll make her really happy,” She whispered conspiratorially to the three girls. However, a nearby thump drew her attention away from them a moment later. Vitalia whipped around to see Frank and Andrew tussling in the grass and shook her head slowly. 

“That’s why we didn’t let him play with us,” Kathryn remarked with a frown. “He always gets our clothes dirty and messes up our hair.”

Vitalia laughed softly and turned back to the girls. “Well, you three just focus on your game okay? I’m going to go handle the boys,” She explained. 

Kathryn, Francesca and Gianna nodded and watched as she stood and walked over to the boys, earning grateful glances from Sandra and Theresa. Vitalia sent a quick smile back, having no issue with taking care of the children for a day like this. Not only did it give their mothers a well-deserved break, but it also gave Vitalia something happy to focus on aside from the wedding festivities. 

“Frank, Andrew,” She called out, her voice gentle in volume but firm in tone. The two boys broke apart instantly. “You’re going to ruin your clothes,” She scolded. “Come on, let’s get you both cleaned up.”

The boys grumbled but didn’t complain as Vitalia led them both into the house. Inside, most of the female family members were helping with cooking and various other tasks, including Carmela Corleone, the Don’s wife. Vitalia smiled at her as she entered with Frank and Andrew. 

“Hello godmother, sorry if we’re disturbing you,” She apologized. Carmela waved her off and moved to stand in front of her and the boys. “These two just got a little dirty while roughhousing and I thought I’d get them cleaned up before we do photos or anything like that.”

Carmela patted Vitalia’s cheek gently. “Grazie Vitalia, grazie,” She then bent down to address the two boys. “You two need to be good for your mamas and for Aunt Connie and Aunt Vitalia.”

Frank and Andrew winced guiltily before nodding. “Si, nonna,” They chorused, flashing their most charming smiles at their grandma. 

Carmela beamed at them before bustling outside while Vitalia led the boys over to the sink. She carefully grabbed a small towel and poured some rubbing alcohol onto it before applying it to the various stains the two boys had managed to incur on their clothing. In between applying that washcloth, she also carefully poured water onto the stain to get it out. Finally, after about ten minutes, the stains faded enough that a true wash would get them out and they wouldn’t be noticeable on the photos. 

“Much better,” Vitalia quickly wiped away a few flecks of dirt from their faces. “Now, try not to get your clothes dirty, alright?” Frank and Andrew nodded quickly. “Okay, you two can go and play now.” 

The boys dashed off immediately while Vitalia stowed her supplies in the cabinet. Once she was done, she made her way back out to the party and was relieved to see that the girls hadn’t moved and everything still seemed okay. She then started making her way across the lawn, only to be stopped by Sonny. 

“Hey, Tom and I are going back to the house,” He explained, “Would you mind-”

“Not at all Sonny, you have business to attend to,” Vitalia quickly adjusted his tie and boutonniere. “There, you look a little less ragged. Don’t worry about the kids, I’ve got it under control.”

Sonny grinned and leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek before joining Tom at the doorway and making his way inside. Vitalia watched until they disappeared before shaking her head fondly and going back to the girls, who were now loudly asking for her to redo their hairstyles. 

<>

“I believe in America,” A mortician named Bonasera had come to bring his case to the Godfather. “America has made my fortune. And I raised my daughter in the American fashion. I gave her freedom, but I taught her never to dishonor her family.”

Sonny and Tom shared a look, already knowing how this was going to end and praising the Don in the back of their minds for raising Connie and even Vitalia with a firm hand. Bonasera swallowed and continued his tale. 

“She found a boyfriend; not an Italian. She went to the movies with him; she stayed out late. I didn't protest,” Sonny sipped at his small glass of wine, “Two months ago, he took her for a drive, with another boyfriend. They made her drink whiskey. And then they tried to take advantage of her.” 

Tom looked over at the Don, who had maintained a perfectly impassive mask all the while. He turned his attention back to Bonasera a moment later. 

“She resisted. She kept her honor. So they beat her, like an animal. When I went to the hospital, her nose was a'broken. Her jaw was a'shattered, held together by wire. She couldn't even weep because of the pain. But I wept. Why did I weep? She was the light of my life ... beautiful girl. Now she will never be beautiful again,” Bonasera sobbed, his entire body slumping under the weight of what had happened to his only daughter. 

Don Corleone looked over at his eldest son and jerked his head in Bonasera’s direction without any expression on his face. Sonny nodded back and quickly poured another small glass of wine, which he handed to Bonasera. The mortician took it gratefully and wiped his tears away. 

“Sorry…” Bonasera took a few sips from the petite glass. “I-I went to the police, like a good American. These two boys were brought to trial. The judge sentenced them to three years in prison ... suspended sentence. Suspended sentence! They went free that very day! I stood in the courtroom like a fool. And those two bastard, they smiled at me. Then I said to my wife, ‘for justice, we must go to Don Corleone’.”

There was a long pause as Don Corleone stared at Bonasera from behind his desk. Idly, his hands pet and played with his cat, a lovely creature with a pale grey coloring and a rather sweet temperament. Finally, he sighed and straightened himself to address the mortician. 

“Why did you go to the police? Why didn't you come to me first?” He asked. Bonasera wilted while Sonny and Tom listened intently. 

“What do you want of me?” Bonasera whispered, pointedly ignoring the Don’s question. “Tell me anything. But do what I beg you to do.”

“What is that?” Don Corleone asked. 

Sonny watched as Bonasera seemed to have a minute war within himself as if he knew what he wanted but didn’t know how to ask. Thankfully, he made his choice a moment later and stood to approach the Don. Bonasera then leaned down and whispered something unintelligible to Tom and Sonny into the Don’s ear. Once he pulled away, Don Corleone shook his head no. 

“That I cannot do,” He replied coolly. Bonasera wilted and stared down at him desperately. 

“I'll give you anything you ask,” He pleaded, his body beginning to shake once more with repressed emotion. Don Corleone sighed. 

  
“We've known each other for many years, but this is the first time you came to me for counsel, for help. I can't remember the last time that you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee, even though my wife is godmother to your only child,” Sonny watched his father pause for a moment to stare Bonasera down. “But let's be frank here: you never wanted my friendship. And uh, you were afraid to be in my debt.”

Bona sera avoided the Don’s gaze. “I didn't want to get into trouble.”

Sonny’s father sighed. “I understand. You found paradise in America, had a good trade, made a good living. The police protected you; and there were courts of law. And you didn't need a friend like me,” He looked down to lavish attention on the cat in his lap, “But uh, now you come to me and you say ‘Don Corleone give me justice’. But you don't ask with respect. You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me Godfather. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you uh ask me to do murder, for money.”

“I ask you for justice,” Bonasera corrected. 

Don Corleone shook his head reproachfully. “That is not justice; your daughter is still alive.”

Bonasera paused for a moment, his hands clenching into fists as his desire for murderous revenge was suppressed. “Then they can suffer then, as she suffers,” He paused for a moment. “How much shall I pay you?”

Sonny and Tom tensed simultaneously at that blatant disrespect, the former of the two holding back a waspish retort while the latter watched the Don with interest. Silence reigned for a moment before Don Corleone stood and moved to stand in front of the window, his back to Bonasera. 

“Bonasera... Bonasera…” Don Corleone murmured, disappointment leaking so violently from his tone that even Sonny winced. “What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully?” The Don asked while turning to face the mortician. “Had you come to me in friendship, then this scum that ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day,” He turned back around and made his way over to Bonasera. “And that by chance if an honest man such as yourself should make enemies, then they would become my enemies. And then they would fear you.”

Bonasera stared at Don Corleone for several seconds before bowing his head so that his eyes were averted from the Don’s. “Be my friend…” He trailed off and paused for a few seconds while Don Corleone stared down at him sternly. “Godfather?” He finished, followed by a kiss to the Don’s hand. 

The Don’s face broke into a more gentle expression. “Good,” He reached up to pat Bonaser’s back and grip his shoulder gently while guiding him towards the door. “Someday, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But uh, until that day accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day,” He finished with a smile. 

Bonasera beamed at him in response. “Grazie, Godfather,” He replied sincerely while being pushed out the door. Don Corleone nodded once. 

“Prego,” He murmured while Bonasera finally exited. Tom looked up as the Don then turned to him and immediately pulled out his notebook. “Ah, give this to ah, Clemenza. I want reliable people; people that aren't gonna be carried away. I mean, we're not murderers, despite what this undertaker says,” Don Corleone murmured with only the slightest trace of annoyance. 

Tom nodded and made a quick note while the Don looked out the window. “When do you want me to pass this along?” He asked. 

“As soon as possible,” The Don replied, his eyes falling on his goddaughter as she played with Sonny and Tom’s daughters. “When are we taking the family photo?”

“In ten minutes,” Sonny replied with a glance to his watch. “Want to head out there now, Pops?”

The Don nodded with a hum and walked over to the mirror in his study where he quickly adjusted his tie and cuffs before following Sonny and Tom out of the room. When they made it outside, the Don winced at the sudden sunlight but quickly regained his composure and approached his wife. 

“Cara mia,” He murmured with a quick kiss to the side of her head. Carmela beamed back and walked with him further into the crowd, greeting various guests alongside her husband. 

“Vitalia has the grandchildren, Vito, if you want to see them,” She explained in a low voice as they continued making the rounds. 

Vito hummed and nodded, allowing his wife to show him over to his grandkids and his goddaughter. When they managed to find her, they were both amused to see that Vitalia seemed to be putting their hair ribbons back into place and inspecting them as a mother would. A moment later, Vitalia looked up and locked eyes with them, a bright smile following a second later. 

“Godfather!” She greeted with a bright smile. Vito smiled back and walked over to give her a kiss on each cheek as well as a quick appraisal of her outfit. 

“You look very respectable,” He complimented. Vitalia blushed slightly and gently smoothed out the skirt of her dress with her hands. 

“Thank you, godfather, I appreciate the kind words,” She replied sincerely. Vito nodded and looked past her at his collection of grandchildren. 

“Have they been giving you a hard time?” He asked. Vitalia laughed and shook her head quickly. 

“No, they’ve been very well behaved,” She assured him. “I’ve managed to keep them plenty presentable for the photos since those are happening soon I believe.”

Vito nodded. “In ten minutes. Did you give Connie your congratulations?” He looked over at his only daughter. “I see you helped her with her hair.”

“Yes, it wasn’t being very cooperative,” Vitalia admitted. “I did give her my congratulations, and then I said hello to a few people before taking the kids off Sandra and Theresa’s hands. I wanted them to be able to enjoy the party.”

Vito hummed. “That’s very kind of you, dear,” He looked around at the rest of the guests. “I’m going to say hello to a few more people and then we’ll take the photos.”

“I’ll make sure all the kids are ready,” Vitalia promised. Vito smiled at her. 

“Make sure you’re ready too, you’ll be in the photos as well,” He explained. 

Vitalia’s eyes widened, but in the end, she wasn’t surprised. After the untimely death of her father, and then her mother, she had been fortunate enough to be able to live with the Corleones since she was twelve and had been in every important family photo since then, just like Tom. She leaned forward and gave a thankful kiss on the cheek to her godfather in response before he walked away. With that matter decided Vitalia then turned her attention back to the myriad of children she was surrounded by. 

“Okay kids, come here,” She ordered. “I need to make sure we’re all presentable cause we’ll be taking photos as a family with Connie and Carlo soon.”

Within a few seconds, all of the children were lined up in front of her and awaiting her verdict. Vitalia smiled at each of them and went down the line, adjusting ties, ribbons, cuffs, sleeves, anything that was a smidge out of place. After a few minutes, she had checked every single one of them. 

“You’re all set, now we’ll just wait till everything’s ready,” She explained, earning nods of understanding from all of the kids before they all went back to talking amongst themselves. Vitalia, however, walked over to Sandra and Theresa, who beamed at her as she approached. 

“Hey, Vita!” They called out, waving her over. Vitalia took a seat next to them. 

“Is something wrong with the kids?” Sandra asked worriedly. Theresa mirrored her expression. 

“Yes, they’re usually rather well behaved around you,” She commented. Vitalia laughed softly and shook her head. 

“Your children have all been delightful angels, I just came over to let you know that the family photos will be starting in a few minutes,” Vitalia assured them. Sandra and Theresa smiled again. 

“Thank you so much, Vita, you’re a lifesaver,” They praised, earning a bright smile and a hug from Vitalia before she went back over to the kids. Then, a few minutes later, Fredo came over to her and the grandkids. 

“We’re getting ready for the photo,” He explained with a wince, Vitalia’s cool stare always managing to unnerve him. 

With a quick nod, Vitalia turned away from him and began herding the grandchildren over to the rest of the family before getting into position beside Sandra, on the far left of the assembly. While the photographer began setting up, Vitalia carefully adjusted Frank’s hair with a quick smile at Sandra and Sonny. Vito, however, frowned concernedly as he gazed at the rest of his family. 

“Where’s Michael?” He asked while turning to Sonny, who shrugged in response. 

“Don't worry; it's early,” He attempted to placate his father, but Vito was having none of it. 

“We're not taking the picture without Michael,” Vito ordered before going over to the photographer while the rest of the family began to disperse. Tom and Vitalia approached Sonny a moment later. 

“What's the matter, Sonny?” Tom asked. Sonny groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. 

“It's Michael,” He explained shortly, to which Tom’s eyes seemed to flash with annoyance while Vitalia gave an exasperated sigh. 

“Okay, then we’ll just have to wait until he gets here,” Vitalia muttered bitterly. “Don’t worry about the kids, I’ve got them under control.”

“No, you don’t!” Connie shouted from her place beside Carlo. “You need to dance with someone!”

Vitalia shared a fond look with Sonny and Tom before shaking her head at Connie. “Later, Connie. Right now I need to watch the kids,” She repeated, earning a pout from Connie. 

With another shake of her head, she walked over to the rest of the kids and carefully herded them back to a more separated area. That is, aside from Kathryn and Francesca who were heading onto the dance floor with Carmela while Vito greeted the rest of the guests. After a while, the kids were all being entertained by relatives and Vitalia allowed herself to enjoy a small glass of wine while keeping a careful eye on the kids. 

<>

The reception continued this way for about another half an hour, during which time Connie and Carlo had been laughing and talking at the head table while most of the family and guests were dancing happily on the dance floor. Of course, that all changed when two new figures arrived and sent everyone into a frenzy. The commotion was so loud, even Vitalia’s attention was pulled away from the kids, and her still half-full glass of wine. However, as soon as she set eyes on the newcomers, she quickly finished her glass of wine and adjusted herself so her hair hid her face from view. 

“Michael!” Connie shouted, standing from the head table to go over to her older brother. Her eyes widened, however, when they landed on the girl next to him. 

She was the classic American beauty, with blonde locks, green eyes, pale skin, and a slim figure that plenty of women would kill for. She was wearing a red dress with white polka dots and a large sunhat that matched her shoes immaculately. Her demeanor screamed kindness, but Connie could immediately tell she wasn’t like the other women there. There was not a lick of Italian or Sicilian heritage in her body, and she completely lacked the respect and subservience that was expected of women in her culture. Nevertheless, she flashed a welcoming smile and continued making her way over to Michael. 

“Hey, Connie,” Michael murmured while pulling Connie into an embrace that she eagerly returned. When they parted, he gestured towards the woman standing next to him. “This is Kay Adams, she’s my girlfriend,” He introduced. 

Connie kept her smile in place as Kay beamed at her. “It’s nice to meet you, Connie,” Kay greeted, “Michael’s told me all about you.”

“All good things I hope,” Connie replied. Before she could continue, Michael cut her off. 

“I’m going to make the rounds with Kay, we’ll talk more later okay?” Connie nodded and smiled as Michael pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Congratulations, Connie.”

Nothing else was said between the two siblings as Michael and Kay made their way into the crowd, smiling and exchanging hellos with everyone who they ran into. Once they got to the center of the crowd, they decided to stop for a dance under the watchful eyes of Michael’s siblings, parents, and even his parents’ goddaughter. For several minutes they danced to the tune of “Ev’ry Time I Look In Your Eyes”, and everything was good. 


	2. The Ceremony and Reception Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie's wedding continues and Michael is reunited with a certain someone.

After a few minutes, Michael and Kay left the dance floor and went to get a plate of food for each other, at which point Vitalia stood and got a second small glass of wine. As she poured the drink, she could feel an unhealthy amount of shame within herself and she tried shaking her head to clear it. That did nothing, however, so instead she did her best to blend in with the crowd while making her way back to the grandkids. 

“Aunt Vita!” Gianna wailed a second later, sending ice water through Vitalia’s veins. She set the drink down on a table and ran over to the tiny blonde girl, who was sitting on the ground with tears in her eyes

“What is it piccolina?” She asked gently, her arms instinctively circling around the little girl. Gianna sniffled and pointed at her knee, which was skinned but not bleeding. 

“It hurts,” She whined. Vitalia let out a soft sigh of relief before standing up and pulling Gianna with her. 

“Come on, let’s go tell your Mama, and then we’ll get you cleaned up,” She murmured. 

Gianna nodded and sniffled as she toddled next to Vitalia. A few seconds later they arrived at the table where Theresa was situated with Sandra. Theresa gasped and stood up as they approached, her attention solely on her daughter. 

“She took a little tumble,” Vitalia explained with a gesture towards Gianna. “Thankfully she’s not bleeding, so I won’t need to use alcohol to clean the scrape.”

Theresa smiled kindly. “Oh, don’t worry about it, Lia! I’ll get this sorted out, you can have some time to enjoy the party.”

Vitalia’s eyes widened worriedly. “Are you sure?”

Theresa nodded, as did Sandra. “Don’t worry about the kids right now, just enjoy yourself. Besides,” Sandra wiggled her brows. “You might find someone you like.”

Vitalie forced a smile onto her face at Sandra’s words before giving Gianna one last hug and then making her way back over to her original seat, where her glass of wine lay untouched. She let out a soft sigh and took a seat facing the dance floor where everyone was smiling and laughing as they danced. A moment later, however, a familiar figure made his way over to her. 

“Lia! Bella!” Vitalia looked up to see Peter Clemenza wading through the crowd with a large smile on his face. She grinned back and set her wine down to meet him halfway. 

“Clemenza!” She greeted, her arms wrapping around him in a friendly hug. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Of course I am, bella!” He replied. “Now, come on, you can’t sit there alone! Take a round on the floor.”

Vitalia blushed and laughed awkwardly before shrugging. “Oh, it can’t hurt!” She decided. “Lead the way!”

Clemenza beamed and grabbed Vitalia’s hands in his to pull her onto the floor, the sight of which caused Connie to beam and cheer wildly. Vitalia rolled her eyes and allowed Clemenza to spin her in a circle, with various stomps and claps interrupting the turns in time with the music. She laughed and smiled as the first song finished, at which point Clemenza began to dance with another girl while she felt someone grab her hand and pull her into another dance. Vitalia looked up to see Carmela’s godson, Franco, smiling down at her. 

At twenty-eight years old, Franco Borrelli was a rather handsome young man who Vitalia had met rather frequently over the years. His close friendship with Sonny and Tom as children had caused them to see each other in school or even during play-dates at the Corleone Mall, and when it continued into adulthood he had been present for every Corleone wedding. 

“Hello Franco,” Vitalia greeted with a smile. Franco’s smile widened. 

“Heya, Vita! How long has it been, a year?” He wondered. 

Vitalia hummed and continued to sway with him. “Almost two, actually. You haven’t been around the house enough to see me anymore.”

Franco shrugged. “That’s life though, sweetheart. Besides, I’m sure Sonny and Tom’s kids have been keeping you busy.”

Vitalia rolled her eyes. “C’mon Franco, you know there’s more to me than those kids.”

“Yeah, but you do devote a lot of time to them,” Franco pointed out. “It’s a wonder that you don’t have your own yet. I would’ve thought you’d be settled down by now.”

He frowned as Vitalia noticeably tensed under his fingers and avoided his eyes, praying he would drop the subject soon. Franco brought his hand up to grip her chin and tilt it upwards. 

“Hey, what’s wrong Vita?” He wondered. “Did something happen?”

Vitalia shrugged. “I dunno, Franco,” She took a deep breath. “I don’t really want to talk about this, ya know? It was a long time ago.”

Franco nodded slowly and released her as the dance finished up. The goodbye between them was quick, almost silent in fact, as Vitalia was whisked away by Nazorine’s daughter with a loud laugh and some comment about Vitalia’s dress. 

Meanwhile, near one of the entrances to the main house, Kay Adams sat across from Michael at a table, her fork idly picking up bites of lasagna as she watched the party. However, her observations were soon cut short as she picked up the idle mutterings of a man from behind her. Upon turning to identify the source, she frowned at the sight of an overweight man sitting on a bench next to the door, reciting a sort of speech. 

“Michael,” Kay leaned across the table to get his attention. “Michael, that man over there is talking to himself. See that scary looking guy over there?”

With a slight frown, Michael turned to look at the man in question and hummed with recognition. He turned back to Kay with a soft smile. “Yes, he's a very scary guy.”

Kay leaned closer with a conspiratory smile. “Well, who is he? What's his name?” She wondered. Michael took a sip of wine while Kay took a slight drag from her cigarette. 

“His name is Luca Brasi an' he helps my father out sometimes,” He began to explain. Behind them, Luca stood up, facing Mike and Kay, seemingly about to approach them. Kay’s eyes widened. 

“Oh, Michael, wait a minute; he's coming over here…” She trailed off in her fear, however, as a slightly older man who stood out like a sore thumb with his German and Irish features in a sea of Sicilian people made his way over.

“Mike!” The man called out with a wide smile. Michael immediately turned and stood from his chair, a matching smile on his face. Within seconds, the two of them were embracing each other tightly. The older man pulled away a moment later. “Heh...! You look terrific!” He cheered. 

Michael pulled away a moment later and turned to Kay before gesturing between her and the man. “My brother, Tom Hagen,” He introduced before facing Tom, “This is Kay Adams.”

Kay watched Tom’s face, and couldn’t help but notice the same flash of a peculiar emotion she had seen in Connie’s face earlier. As if she were a sort of oddity you would display at a zoo rather than a guest at the party. However, Tom quickly regained his composure and reached out to gently shake her hand. 

“How do you do,” He greeted. Kay smiled and shook his hand in return. 

“How do you do, Tom,” She echoed before Tom turned back to Michael and began to speak in hushed tones. 

“Your father's been asking for you,” He muttered coolly. Michael winced and pulled away from Tom as he turned back to Kay. “Very nice to meet you.” 

Kay’s charming smile remained in place. “Nice to meet you,” She watched as he entered the house before turning back to Michael. “If he's your brother, why does he have a different name?”

Michael stared at her, somewhat taken aback, until he remembered that yes, Kay didn’t know a lot of the family history. Finally, he managed to stammer, “Oh, ah, that…” He adjusted his posture to comfortably lean back in his chair. “When my brother Sonny was a kid, he found Tom Hagen in the street. And he had no home and so my father took him in – and he's been with us ever since,” He paused to take another sip of wine. “He's a good lawyer. Not a Sicilian, but I think he's gonna be consiglieri.” 

Kay stared at him blankly. “What's that?” She wondered. Michael sighed and drummed his fingers on the edge of the table. 

“That's um, like a counselor… an advisor… very important to the family,” He explained. Kay hummed and Michael took that as a cue to change the subject. “You like your lasagna?”

“Hmm? Oh yes, it’s delicious,” Kay replied sweetly. “Did your family make it?”

Michael nodded. “My mother, she takes great pride in being able to feed everyone at a party,” His mind drifted back to old memories of family dinners and get-togethers, “She tried to pass it on to Connie, but I don’t think it ever stuck,” He admitted. 

Kay laughed softly. “Well, your sister has plenty of other admirable qualities,” She complimented. Her eyes then drifted back to the large crowd. “So, how much of this is your immediate and extended family?”

“Not as much as you might think,” Michael gestured out at the crowd as Kay turned to frown at him confusedly. “Outside of me, my parents, my sister and my brother, and their families, there’s really not many other people from my family here. Everyone else is either a family friend, a godchild and their family, or people who helped out with the wedding that my father is grateful to.”

“Are all Sicilian weddings like this?” Kay wondered. Michael nodded. 

“Just about, yeah. We like a big party when there’s something to celebrate,” He joked. 

  
  


Kay opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off as the music came to a halt, and Connie and Carlo made their way onto the dance floor. In reply, she and Michael turned in their chairs to watch the couple dance to a new tune that Michael seemed to know every note of. She watched him fondly as he hummed along for the entirety of the dance. 

“So, how long do these receptions typically last for?” Michael looked back over at her. 

“We usually wrap up when the bride and groom leave, and then some people will stay for coffee with the family,” He explained. Kay took a sip of water. 

“Will we be doing that?” 

Michael shrugged. “They’ll probably try to rope me into it, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’ll also have to go to see Genco at some point today to pay my respects with my father and brothers.”

“Who’s Genco?” Kay questioned. She didn’t get a response, however, as Michael’s eyes narrowed in the direction of the stage. Kay frowned and turned to see what was diverting his attention. 

On the other side of the dance floor, up on the bandstand, stood two women, one older and one younger, that Kay herself didn’t recognize but Michael sure seemed to. The elder was dressed in a lovely pink or light purple dress while the younger was clothed in sky blue, and it seemed as if the crowd was yelling at them to sing. 

“Signora Corleone!” They cried out, causing the elder to flap her hands with embarrassment. Beside her, the younger one seemed to mimic her as they shouted, “Signorina Lionetti!”

Michael tensed, his grip on his glass tightening as his suspicions were confirmed. He watched as his mother and Vitalia were egged on to sing the words to "Luna Mezz'a Mare", much to their mutual embarrassment. Finally, however, they both gave in and prompted loud cheers in doing so. Michael leaned forward in his seat as they began to sing. 

“ C'è la luna mezz'o mare,” They began. 

“Mamma mia me maritari,” Vitalia continued with a pleading gesture, causing Carmela to laugh wildly along with the crowd. Michael didn’t notice Kay’s eyes on him as he continued to watch them. 

“Figghia mia, a cu te dari,” Carmela sang, prompting Vitalia to give her next lyric.

“Mamma mia pensaci tu!” She cried out joyfully, a wide smile on her face as the crowd danced in time to their performance. 

Carmela clapped her hands as she continued on with the next verse. “Si ci dugnu lu babberi, iddu va, iddu veni 'u rasolu manu teni. Si ci pigghia la fantasia, mi rasulia la figghia mia,” She cheered. 

Michael laughed softly and smiled around his cigarette as he watched them continue their performance, only snapping out of it when Kay called out his name with a slightly clipped tone. His eyes slid over to her as she watched him with an expression he couldn’t quite place. 

“Who are they?” Kay asked, her voice as indecipherable as her expression. Michael adjusted his posture. 

“That’s my mother and her goddaughter, Vitalia,” He explained. “Well, Vitalia isn’t just my mother’s goddaughter, she’s also my father’s goddaughter, and they’re all very close.”

“So you two know each other?”

Michael nodded, his eyes instinctively moving back to watch them. “Yeah, I grew up with Vitalia. She lived with our family from the age of ten, and still does if I’m right.”

“So, she’s like a sister then?” Kay guessed. Michael’s nose wrinkled as if something distasteful had been placed before him. 

“No, more like a close family friend. Sonny and Tom see her as a little sister, though,” He remarked, not noticing the way Kay’s eyes flashed at the statement. A moment later, he looked back up at the stage as an old man came up to sing with Vitalia. 

“O Mamma, piscia fritta baccala, o Mamma piscia fritta baccala,” Vitalia chanted while clapping. Michael watched as the old man grabbed her hand and looked up at her. 

“Figghia mia a cu te dari?” He sang, his voice old and raspy. Kay watched as Vitalia tilted her head back and laughed before continuing to sing into the mic. 

“Mamma mia pensaci tu!” The old man moved to the mic and held out his hands as he continued the verse, Vitalia clapping her hands beside him. 

“Si ci dugnu zuppunaro iddu va, iddu veni 'u zappuni manu teni. Si ci pigghia la fantasia mi zappunia la figghia mia,” He cried out, while making a rude gesture with his hips at the end of the verse. 

Vitalia blushed a dark red while the rest of the party laughed and continued to dance while others came up to sing with the young Sicilian girl. Michael turned away at that moment to see Sonny making his way into the house with Lucy Mancini behind him, a silly smile on her face. He frowned and took a drag of his cigarette before turning back to Kay, who was watching him with slightly narrowed eyes. 

“Michael,” She began. “Tell me more about your family. You hardly ever talk about them.”

She studied Michael as he seemed to consider the idea, and smiled when Michael sighed and leaned in to speak to her more easily. 

“Well, as I said before my family is rather small. There’s my father and my mother, my oldest brother Sonny, then my brother Tom, and then there’s Fredo, then me, and Connie’s the youngest,” He began. 

“And Sonny and Tom are married?” Kay wondered. Michael nodded. 

“Sonny married Sandra, and Tom married Theresa, and the both of them have kids,” He answered. “Fredo and I are the only ones left unmarried now.”

“How many kids do they have?” Michael took a mental headcount. 

“Well, Sonny’s got three: his twin daughters, Francesca and Kathryn, and his son Frank. Tom has two kids, his son Andrew and his daughter Gianna,” He recounted. Kay smiled. 

“It must be nice to have so many nieces and nephews,” She said wistfully. Michael laughed softly and took a drag of his cigarette. 

“Yeah, it keeps the family busy. Especially since Sandra’s having her fourth in a couple months,” He remembered. Kay beamed at him. 

“Michael, that’s amazing! What are they hoping for?” She wondered. Michael took a sip of wine. 

“A boy, most likely. Sonny’s supposed to look after the family is my father passes away, and that duty will then go to his sons,” He explained faintly as the song drew to a close. 

Kay frowned at that and opened her mouth to comment, but was promptly cut off by a loud cacophony of shrieking from the entrance to the party. The both of them turned to see girls swarming the entrance, and a dashing figure approaching in a white tux. A moment later, Connie leapt from her seat to run to the figure. 

“ Johnny! Johnny! Johnny!” She grinned at her father’s godson, Johnny Fontane, and opened her arms for a hug. “I love you!”

Johnny beamed down at her and gathered her up in his arms. “Happy wedding day, Connie! How’s married life treating you so far?” He joked. 

“Oh don’t be a tease, Johnny, come enjoy the party!” She ordered with a bright smile. 

Johnny laughed and shook his head fondly before allowing her to drag him over to the dance floor and meet everyone. Cheers echoed as he shook hands and exchanged hugs through the entire crowd of people until he stopped at the sight of Vitalia. 

“Is that little Vita?!” He cried out with a bright smile. “C’mere kid.”

Vitalia laughed as he squeezed her gently before pulling away. “It’s so good to see you, Johnny! Connie and were worried you wouldn’t be able to make it.”

“Oh, I couldn’t miss an opportunity to see my two favorite girls,” Johnny teased. Vitalia rolled her eyes and smiled fondly while Connie continued introducing guests to him. Finally, a shout from Carmela forced them to turn towards her. 

“Johnny, Johnny! Cantare una canzone!” She ordered with a smile. “Sing a song.”

Vitalia laughed as Johnny pretended to be unsure, much to the delight of the crowd who began to cheer wildly in encouragement. Eventually, Johnny held up his hands in defeat and allowed himself to be pushed in front of a microphone while Connie took a seat on the dance floor, Vitali standing just behind her with a smile. Across the lawn, Kay gaped at Johnny and looked over at Michael.

“Mike, you never told me you knew Johnny Fontane!” She gushed with a wide smile. Michael laughed softly and nodded. 

“Sure... You wanna meet him?” He offered. Kay’s eyes widened and she stared at him in shock.

“Huh? Oh, well, sure!” She stammered out. Michael hummed and drummed his fingers idly. 

“My father helped him with his career,” He said suddenly, startling Kay and forcing her to look over with a confused expression. Meanwhile, Johnny began his song, dedicating it to Connie as he sang. 

“He did? How?” Kay wondered. Michael winced, not exactly wanting to elaborate, and attempted to focus on Johnny. 

“Let's listen to the song…” He decided. 

“I have but one heart, this heart I bring you,” Connie’s head tilted to the side as her eyes filled with tears from Johnny’s sweet words. “I have but one heart to share with you. I have but one dream that I can cling to. You are the one dream..." 

Kay smiled at the lyrics, but couldn’t let Michael’s comment go and reached out to hold his free hand in hers. “Oh, Michael…” She murmured. “Please, Michael, tell me.”

For a few seconds, Michael didn’t say a word as he contemplated his next move. However, he eventually reached a decision and looked up at her. “Well, when Johnny was first starting out, he was signed to this personal service contract; with a big band leader.”

Kay nodded in understanding and leaned in to hear him better while taking a drag from his cigarette. 

“And as his career got better and better, he wanted to get out of it,” Michael continued. “Now, Johnny is my father's godson. And my father went to see this bandleader, and he offered him $10,000 to let Johnny go. But the bandleader said no.”

Kay frowned and waited for Michael to continue. He took a quick sip of wine and glanced at the crowd before turning back to her. 

“So the next day, my father went to see him; only this time with Luca Brasi,” He watched Kay’s eyes flicker with remembrance of the scary man that had been sitting behind them. “And within an hour, he signed a release, for a certified check for $1,000.”

Her jaw dropped in amazement. “How'd he do that?” She breathed in amazement. Michael hesitated and swirled his glass in his hand while avoiding her gaze. 

“My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse,” He stated. Kay’s amazement faded to a frown. 

“What was that?” She asked slowly. Michael smoked his cigarette for a moment before responding, his eyes closed off and his mouth turned down at the corners. 

“Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract.”

Kay stared at him in unadulterated shock, horror, and disgust. Michael stared back unwaveringly. 

“That's a true story,” He paused to take a sip of wine, his eyes avoiding hers once again. “That's my family, Kay. It's not me.”

For a long while, Kay didn’t know what to say in response. She had known that something wasn’t right with Michael’s family as soon as they met, it had been obvious through his sort of detachment from them in conversation. She hadn’t expected this, though. Of all the things in the world, murder had not been on her list of ideas. 

Opposite her, Michael wondered if he had made a mistake in telling her that story. He could see the mix of emotions in her eyes and he knew she would never be able to look at any of them the same way again. He sighed softly and took a sip of his wine. 

“Kay-”

“Who else is a part of it?” She asked faintly, her eyes still wide and now somewhat fearful as she regarded him. Michael cursed himself to hell in the back of his mind. 

“It doesn’t matter,” He finally replied, his eyes once again shifting to watch the party. Kay blinked several times before turning her attention back to her food, unsure of what to say to that. In the background, Johnny finished his sing for Connie to a round of rapturous applause. 

“Bene! Bene!” Carmela cheered before moving to kiss Johnny on each of his cheeks. “Molto bene, Johnny!”

“Oh, grazie, Signora Corleone,” He thanked her with a quick hug of his own. She flashed another quick smile before turning as her husband made his way onto the floor with Sonny and Tom following him. 

“Godfather!” Johnny cheered. Don Corleone grinned at him and pulled him into a hug before passing him a small glass of wine. 

“Benvenuto, Johnny, benvenuto,” He greeted the young man as Sonny and Tom came up to greet him as well. 

“Hey, where’ve you been Johnny?” Sonny teased. “The party’s been going on without you!” 

Johnny laughed. “Well, I’m here now, don’t you worry,” He replied before hugging Sonny and Tom. He then turned back to Connie and pulled her into one last congratulatory hug. “Congrats, Connie.”

“Aww, thanks Johnny,” She crooned with a sweet smile as she pulled away. “You’re always the best, you know that.”

Johnny grinned and joined the Godfather in a quick toast to her and her new husband. Everyone took a sip of wine, and then he found himself being led inside by the Godfather, Sonny, and Tom to address the business matter he had brought before them. In their wake, however, the party continued. 

Vitalia beamed at Connie as she pulled the bride into a happy, chattering crowd of women who were all swaying in time with the music but not terribly focused on dancing. Around them, men, women, and children clapped and bounced and danced wildly with happy expressions and delight in their hearts. 

“Connie, I don’t know how anyone could ever top this,” One of the girls, Maria, confessed. Connie laughed and took a sip of wine. 

“Oh I don’t know,” She leered at Vitalia, “A little someone over here still has to get married~!” Connie pointed out in a sing-song voice. Vitalia choked on her glass of wine. 

“Connie!” She exclaimed with an outraged smile. “Even if I do get married-”

“If?!” The women cried out, shocked. Vitalia rolled her eyes. 

“Okay, when I get married, I would never be able to outdo this, nor would I want to,” She admitted. “I just can’t see myself at the center of all this attention.”

Connie rolled her eyes. “Oh, you’ll figure it out,” She promised. “In the meantime, find someone! Anyone!”

Vitalia laughed good-naturedly. “The only thing I’m going to find any time soon is a beverage that isn’t wine,” She gradually made her way out of the circle. “I’ll see you girls later, try to keep Connie entertained!”

“Will do!” They cheered as she fought her way out of the crowd, her wine glass eventually finding a place on a nearby table as she did so. 

Meanwhile, having not moved and the awkward atmosphere having somewhat faded, Michael continued to sit with Kay. He was distracted a moment later, however, by a tap on the back of his head. With a frown, he twisted and grinned at the sight of his next oldest brother. 

“Oh! How are you, Fredo?” He asked with a grin as he stood to hug his brother. Fredo grinned and hugged him back before looking over at Kay as Michael gestured to him. “Fredo...my brother Fredo...this is Kay Adams.”

“Oh, hi,” Kay greeted uneasily, able to tell immediately that the wine glass in Fredo’s hand was not the first he had emptied and would most likely not be the last. Fredo grinned and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek in greeting. 

“How'ya doing?” He asked. Kay blinked at him several times as he smiled before gesturing to Michael. “This is my brother, Mike.”

Michael bit back a laugh and grinned at his brother. “Are you having a good time?” He wondered. 

Fredo grinned back. “Yeah…” He paused as a thought occurred to him. “Did you ever find Lia, Mike? You were asking about her earlier.”

Kay’s uneasy smile dropped while Michael tensed. “Fredo…” He began. 

Fredo, however, wasn’t listening. Instead, he turned and looked around before his eyes landed on a figure in blue that was absentmindedly walking in their direction. “Hey! Lia! C’mere! Michael wants to talk to you!”

In that moment, Michael had never wanted to strangle Fredo or run to a woman more. As he stared at the familiar slender figure of Vitalia Lionetti, complete with an unmistakably Sicilian face made up of warm eyes, gently arched brows, a straight yet strong nose, and perfectly sculpted lips, he wanted nothing more than to move closer. He could tell he wasn’t alone in his sentiment, either, as Vitalia looked up at him and seemed to pale six or seven shades lighter in her fury against Fredo before darkening with a deep, furious, red blush that he should’ve noticed ages ago only appeared around him. Fredo, however, was drunkenly ignorant of the silent exchange that had just taken place. 

“C’mere! Come talk to Michael and his friend,” He looked over at Kay and then back at Vitalia, “His friend Kay!”

For a moment, no one moved from their places. Then, with a sort of expression that reminded Michael of a lamb walking to the slaughterhouse, Vitalia began making her way over with a glass of water in her hand. Fredo turned back to Kay. 

“Vitalia is our parents' goddaughter, a great gal, you’ll see,” He assured her, much to Kay’s chagrin. “She and Michael are thick as thieves, always used to be joined at the hip.”

Michael felt his stomach clench as Vitalia’s eyes narrowed at that comment, the both of them thinking back to a certain moment in which they were anything but thick as thieves. They couldn’t dwell on it for long, though, as she was standing before him a few seconds later. She flashed him a thin smile. 

“Hello, Michael,” She greeted. He shivered as he heard his name in the sweet and clear voice she always used. “It’s been a long time.”

Fredo and Kay watched as Michael stared at her, seemingly unable to comprehend a polite greeting before he suddenly cleared his throat.

“Yeah, about four years,” He agreed. Vitalia stared up at him, her chocolate brown eyes holding the slightest hint of suppressed pain behind their carefully cultivated shield of polite happiness. 

“Have you been well?” She eventually asked with the slightest of glances at Kay. Michael once again cursed his brother for his timing before nodding. 

“Yes, have you?” He replied politely. Vitalia opened her mouth to respond, but Fredo beat her to the punch. 

“How about the two of you go dance and chit chat? I can stay here with Kay if you’d like,” He offered, attempting to help the two of them along in the painfully stilted conversation he was currently witnessing. Vitalia started to refuse, having had more than enough exposure to Michael for one day, but she wasn’t given the chance. 

Michael quickly grabbed the glass of water from her hand and set it down on the table, much to both women’s discomfort. “That sounds good, Fredo,” He replied absently and turned to Kay. “We’ll be back soon.”

Kay watched him in shock, and couldn’t bring herself to protest as he led Vitalia over to the dance floor despite the latter seeming incredibly against the action. A moment later, she looked over at Fredo, who was still watching them with intense interest. 

The both of them were the last ones on Michael’s mind, however. His mind was only able to focus on the person he had wanted to pretend he didn't want to see. Of course, he couldn’t pretend that. Not in a million years. 

And so, with a bizarre sense of peace, Michael pulled Vitalia close to him and began to sway with her to the tune of “Swinging on a Star”. He tried to ignore the way her body felt like a knot of tension cables under his fingers. 

“How come I haven’t seen you before today?” Michael murmured a moment later into Vitalia’s ear. She tensed further. 

“You know the answer to that, Michael,” Vitalia whispered, her voice somewhat thick as she spoke. He winced in response. 

“I’m sorry about that night, I was rude and you didn’t deserve it,” He admitted. Vitalia hummed under her breath and looked up at him, still swaying in time to the music. 

“Did you ever think about it? When you were away?” She wondered. Michael swallowed and nodded slowly. 

“I did. Every time I was given a stack of letters and none of them had your name on them,” He confessed. Vitalia blinked at him, not entirely expecting that answer. She averted her eyes to the ground. 

“Did you want me to write to you?” She took a deep breath and blinked back the stinging in her eyes. “I thought you didn’t want me to, hence the lack of letters.”

Michael scoffed and brought up a hand to tilt her chin upwards, trying to ignore the burst of satisfaction as Vitalia leaned into the touch. Once he could see her clearly, he flashed his signature, charming smile. 

“I always wanted to hear from you, but I didn’t know if you wanted to hear from me so I gave you space,” He explained. “And when I didn’t get a letter, I felt…”

Vitalia waited for him to finish his sentence, fully expecting for him to be relieved or even happy she hadn’t tried to finish their interaction. His response surprised her, though.

“Empty,” He finished. “As if there was a massive void, one I might not be able to fill, between myself and someone I care about.”

Her eyes stung at the sentiments hiding behind his words, emotions she had never expected to hear from Michael after their last meeting. Suddenly feeling a hell of a lot braver, she raised her chin and locked eyes with him. 

“Tell me,” She tried to block out the thoughts of him and Kay that began to swirl in the back of her mind. “If you could go back and redo that moment, what would you have done differently?” She asked him, her voice low and serious without a single drop of humor. 

Michael stared at her before looking up to make sure no one was watching them, and then looked back down at her. A moment later, he let his eyes shut as he dipped down to capture her lips with his. 

Vitalia’s eyes widened before they followed suit and shut in the wake of sheer relief and its companion of euphoria. The feeling of his lips on hers was a sensation that she had imagined many a time in her own mind, much to her embarrassment, but her dream couldn’t compare to the reality. She idly wondered if anyone was watching them but blocked out the thoughts as best she could. Within moments that passed entirely too quickly, the two of them parted and stared at each other. She blinked several times. Michael winked at her. 

“I would have done that,” He admitted in a voice so low it would have registered as a growl if Vitalia was not so absorbed in the words he was reciting. “And I’d like to do it again.”

Her mind broke, coherent thoughts were impossible. In the background, the song faded to a close as the band moved on to “My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time”, but she couldn’t give a damn about the music choice. Vitalia blinked several more times. 

“You,” She swallowed, “You feel the same way?”

Michael nodded slowly. “I think I always did,” He took a deep breath. “I just needed time to realize it.”

Vitalia felt her lips split into a smile that made her cheeks ache. “Michael,” She whispered happily. Michael grinned down at her before pressing a finger over her lips. 

“There’s just a tiny problem,” He admitted. Vitalia’s smile dimmed.

“Kay,” She murmured at the same time he did. “You have to break things off.”

Michael nodded. “It won’t be that bad, we only started seeing each other a couple months ago,” He paused. “You know, I only really started seeing her because I was nervous.”

Vitalia raised an eyebrow. “Nervous about what?” She asked with a teasing smile as his finger left her lips so he could properly dance with her. “Seeing me?”

Michael reluctantly nodded. “Even though I knew how you had felt back then, I wanted to be prepared for you hating me now,” He explained. Vitalia laughed softly. 

“I could never hate you, Michael,” She reminded him. Her smile faded. “I do wish you had written me to tell me how you felt. It would’ve saved both of us a lot of hassle.”

There was a sigh from Michael as he nodded slowly. He opened his mouth to say something else, but soon he felt the hand on his father gripping his shoulder. Vitalia smiled at the Don while Michael tensed and dropped his arms from her figure. 

“Michael,” The Don grumbled. “Come with me, it’s time to visit Genco with your brothers,” He looked over at Vitalia, “We’ll take the family photo when we return, would you be so kind as to ensure everything is ready?”

Vitalia nodded and flashed a sweet smile at them in an attempt to conceal the ever-present euphoria in her system. “Of course, Godfather. We’ll be ready for you.”

With a nod from the Don and a smile from Michael, the two men walked away and left Vitalia on the dance floor, where she remained for a few seconds before walking over to Connie’s head table. As she walked, she took care to avoid the table where Kay sat as Michael alerted her to his departure. 

“Lia!” Connie shouted as she approached, a devilish grin on her face. Vitalia paled and braced herself for what she knew was about to happen. “D’you want to tell me how you and Michael came to be dancing together?!”

Vitalia let out a sigh of relief. She hadn’t seen them kissing. Connie raised an eyebrow, prompting her to reply. “We were just getting caught up, you know,” She murmured absentmindedly while taking a seat next to the bride. 

“What did his girlfriend say about that?” Connie wondered, her nose wrinkling at the mention of her. Vitalia laughed. 

“She didn’t seem terribly pleased, but apparently Michael’s only been seeing her for a few months at most,” She commented while taking a quick sip of wine. Connie’s eyes widened. 

“Lia! Color me intrigued,” She leaned in to inspect Vitalia’s face. “Do you have the hots for Michael?!”

“Shh!” Vitalia hissed sharply as the bride nearly shrieked her inquiry. Connie gasped. 

“Oh dear God you do,” She breathed out, amazed. “You need to tell me everything!”

And so, Vitalia did. She regaled Connie with every dirty detail that she could relay in the limited amount of time she had before she had to go and alert the photographers and the family about the pictures. In the end, Connie was more than ecstatic at the development and gave her a plentitude of blessings before she left to attend to her duties. 

“Well,” Vitalia murmured with a smile as she watched the photographers begin to clear the lawn, “This is shaping up to be a smashing success.”

“Um, Vitalia?” Her spine stiffened at the voice and she turned to see Kay standing behind her. She quickly plastered a smile on her face. 

“Hello Kay, is something the matter?” She asked sweetly. Kay shook her head slowly and looked around carefully. 

“Has Michael returned yet? He said he was visiting his father’s friend in the hospital,” She explained. Vitalia pretended to look around and smiled when her eyes landed on Michael and his brothers walking in with their father. 

“He’s just over there, but we’re about to take the family photo. Would you mind waiting till that’s over and done with before talking to him?” She requested, her smile widening further. Kay blinked at her before shaking her head. 

“Of course not,” She mumbled while taking a step back to watch as the family filed into place. 

“Connie, Carlo, stand in the center,” Carmela ordered with a gesture to a spot on the lawn. “Fredo, stand next to Carlo!”

Fredo hummed and moved into place, his new brother in law flashing a smile as he approached. On his other side, Tom’s wife Theresa moved into place with her son and daughter standing in front of her and Tom. Carmela nodded in approval before turning to Sonny and Michael. 

“Sonny, you’ll be on your father’s other side,” She instructed, “Then Sandra, then Michael, and then Vitalia.”

Sonny nodded and watched as his mother and father moved to stand on Connie’s other side before walking to stand next to his father. Sandra followed a moment later, their two daughters and one son standing in front of them. Lastly, Michael and Vitalia linked arms and walked over to take their place, not seeing Kay’s glance of unease. 

“Carlo, we're gonna take the picture…!” Carmela suddenly cried out, drawing the attention to the now kissing bride and groom. Vitalia laughed fondly and leaned to the side, blushing when she realized she had leaned against Michael. 

The photographer waited until Connie and Carlo separated before holding up his camera. “Okay, that's it. Just like that; now, hold it.”

The camera flashed, capturing the Corleone family’s happy moment before the Don walked away with the photographer to discuss the other pictures. As he did so, the family separated into smaller groups to talk amongst themselves. Vitalia waited until she and Michael were left mostly alone before looking up at Michael. 

“Connie saw us dancing,” She murmured lowly. “She knows about us, but she said she’d keep it under wraps.”

Michael hummed and watched as Carmela touched up his sister’s hair as they got ready for the dance between her and their father. “She’s a good sister,” His eyes glanced over at Kay. “I’m going to let Kay know about the dance, the cake and then take her back to the hotel when it’s all over.”

Vitalia watched his features carefully. “And then we’ll talk about everything later?” She asked hopefully. 

Michael nodded before squeezing her side in a hug and walking over to Kay, who beamed at him as he approached. Vitalia watched them for a moment before the arrival of the wedding cake distracted most of the people in attendance. There was an uproar of cheers for the baker Nazorine, which only quieted as Connie and the Don began making their way up to the dance floor. She smiled as she watched the duo dance, and that smile remained on her face for the rest of the evening and well into the night. 

After four years of waiting and pining, she was entering a new chapter of her life and she couldn’t wait for it to begin.


	3. Working with the Family, and a Special Outing

Vitalia smiled and waved at the car that contained Connie and Carlo as it pulled out of the mall, the wedding reception over as they departed for their honeymoon. Beside her, Sandra stood with Sonny and their kids, also waving at the car. 

“She looked absolutely radiant today, didn’t she?” Sandra mused. Sonny nodded. 

“That’s my baby sister for ya,” He replied with a grin. Vitalia rolled her eyes. 

“Look at you, ya big softie,” She teased with a wink. Sonny gaped at her before reaching out and ruffling her hair wildly. 

“Who are ya calling a softie?” He exclaimed with a grin. 

Vitalia laughed madly as his kids burst into giggles at their Aunt and Papa messing around while Sandra herself couldn’t hold back her own snickers. Behind them, Tom walked over with Theresa and their two children. Sonny frowned as he approached and pulled away from Vitalia, who focused on fixing her hair. 

“I need to head out,” Tom explained, whispering to Sonny as their families continued to mingle. “Can you see if Vitalia is willing to help out with the kids and tidying up?”

Sonny nodded. “Of course, Tom, don’t worry about it.” 

Tom whispered a quick thank you before kissing his wife and kids goodbye and getting into another car to head to the airport, where he would board a plan to California to handle a matter for Johnny Fontane. Once he was gone and the car was out of sight, Sonny turned to Vitalia, who laughed at the expression on his face. 

“You don’t need to worry about a thing, Sonny,” She assured him. “I’ll be helping to clean up here and then I’ll stop by Tom’s place if Theresa needs anything.”

He grinned at her. “You know, I think you’re quickly earning a place as the favorite godchild around here.”

Vitalia rolled her eyes, “There are no favorites, you know that.” She then turned to Sandra. “Are we still doing lunch on Friday?” She asked. 

Sandra nodded. “Yep, at Rocco’s,” She confirmed. Vitalia nodded and gave her a quick hug goodbye. 

“I’ll be there,” She promised. “Now, go enjoy the rest of your evening.”

The couple nodded and walked away with their children to say goodbye to the Don and to Carmela, while Vitalia turned to look at the only person she truly wanted to be around right now. She smiled as she watched Michael turn and spot her before making his way over to her, his own smile firmly in place. 

“Hello you,” She greeted, her hands coming up to smooth out a few wrinkles in his jacket. Michael hummed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Hello,” He looked up and around before returning his gaze to hers, “I have to take Kay back to the hotel, and then I’ll come back for coffee. You’ll wait for me?”

“Michael,” She pulled him into a quick hug. “I’ve already waited for four years, I can wait for however long you need me to.”

Vitalia pulled away as Michael’s lips turned down slightly at the corners. “Do you mean that?” He asked softly. 

She laughed gently and nodded. “Knowing that you feel for me even a modicum of what I feel for you makes me inordinately happy, Michael. If you need to take time to finish other things up,” She flashed a pointed glance at Kay, “To make sure this is what you truly want, then I can give you that time.”

Michael stared at her for several seconds before pulling her into another quick hug. “Thank you, Lia,” He murmured. Vitalia didn’t say anything in response and merely squeezed her arms around his middle before pulling away. 

“I’ll see you later.” Michael nodded in response before walking over to Kay, who threaded her arm through his as they walked over to his parents to say goodbye and then climbed into their cab. 

Vitalia watched as it pulled away, unable to feel sad as her euphoria of the day's events continued to warm her from the inside out. With a bright smile, she made her way into the Corleone home and began washing the many dishes leftover from the party, with Carmela eventually coming to join her as the rest of the people who were lingering also began to help clean up various areas of the house. About an hour later, the two of them had managed to clean all of the dishes and put them back in their places. 

“Vitalia,” She looked over at Carmela as the woman dried her hands off with a towel, “Would you mind starting a few pots of coffee?”

“Of course not, godmother,” She assured her with a smile. Carmela smiled back and watched as Vitalia quickly assembled the three french-presses with their favorite coffee grounds at the bottom of them before putting some water on the stove to boil. “Did you have fun at the party?” Vitalia asked her godmother. 

“Oh, it was wonderful, piccolina,” Carmela murmured while pulling a few tins of homemade cookies from a cabinet. “Did you enjoy it?”

Vitalia blushed as she recalled exactly what parts of the party she enjoyed before smiling and nodding. “I did, it was a lot of fun and I loved seeing everyone.”

_ Especially Michael _ , her mind whispered. 

<>

Kay hummed happily as she and Michael entered the hotel room they had gotten for the wedding, the smooth sheets on the beds calling out to her like a siren. She turned to smile at Michael, who was watching her with a guarded expression. Her smile dropped. 

“What is it, Michael?” She murmured while walking over to stand in front of him. 

Michael didn’t say anything for a moment before taking her hands in his and staring into her wide eyes. “I told you about my family today,” He whispered. 

Kay nodded. “You did,” She agreed slowly, not entirely sure where he was going with this. Her eyes narrowed as Michael continued watching her carefully as if he were waiting for her to react a certain way. 

“How do you feel, knowing what you know now?” He wondered.

There was silence as Kay processed his question, her eyes clouding with a myriad of emotions as she did so. In front of her, Michael studied her carefully, waiting for her response. He was hoping she would want nothing to do with him, that she would pull away first so that he wouldn’t have to shatter her heart into a million pieces. After all, the fact of the matter was that while what he felt for Lia had been building for four years, and he had only known Kay for a few months, he didn’t want to hurt her. 

Kay sighed and shook her head slowly. “Michael, you told me you weren’t like them, that that life isn’t for you. How could I hold your family against you when you don’t want to go down that same path?” 

Michael felt his heart twist in on itself. He didn’t know what to do now. With a shuddering sigh, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling away. “I need to make a call and then head back to the house for coffee,” He explained gently. 

“You’re not going to stay?” Kay mumbled, her lips pursing into a frown as she regarded him. “I thought we could just relax together for the rest of the evening.”

“No, I need to go to my family,” He took a deep breath. “I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t, and neither of us need their endless badgering.”

Michael felt bad for lying to her, for concealing the real reason why he wanted to go back to the house, but he couldn’t face everything that would come with the truth in one day. And, if he was being truthful to himself, he couldn’t tell if he was dreaming or not. His reconciliation with Lia had felt like a dream, after all, and he couldn’t imagine someone loving him enough to let four years of pain and rejection go just because he had realized he felt the same way as she did. So, he would do what Lia said he could. He would take time. 

“When will you be back?” Kay asked softly as she pulled off her hat and shoes, wanting nothing more than to lay down. Michael shrugged. 

“Not too late, I promise,” He assured her before making his way over to the phone on the nightstand. With shaking fingers he dialed the operator and asked to be connected to the Corleone home line. A short while later, the connection clicked through. 

“Hello?” 

Michael nearly jumped at the suddenness of Fredo’s voice but calmed quickly enough. “Hello Fredo, it’s Mike. Can you let Ma and Pa know that I’m on my way over for coffee?”

“‘Course, Mike, not a problem,” Fredo paused. “You’re coming alone, right?”

“Yeah,” Michael replied. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew better than to bring Kay to an intimate gathering like coffee with the family. “I’m getting a cab now, I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay, see you in a bit, Mike,” Fredo bid farewell before hanging up. Michael set the phone back in the receiver and then made his way over to the door. 

“Goodbye, Michael,” Kay called out, frowning as Michael froze in his tracks before turning to her. He flashed her a quick smile. 

“I’ll be back later, Kay,” He reminded her before ducking out of the hotel room, the door shutting behind him with a soft click. 

<>

Vitalia sighed happily as she poured the water into the french presses, the aroma of coffee filling the kitchen as people began entering and sitting at the large kitchen table with happy smiles and the soft buzz of chatter surrounding them. She waited for the coffee to steep for a few minutes before pressing down on the top and bringing the pots over to the table. 

“Grazie, bella,” Clemenza thanked her and began pouring himself and a few others their coffee. Vitalia smiled and helped pour more of the cups. 

“Non è affatto un problema,” She assured him as the Don entered. He moved and took a seat next to Carmela before watching as his goddaughter set a cup of coffee in front of him. “Here you are, godfather.”

“Grazie, Vitalia,” He murmured while bringing the cup up to his lips to take a tentative sip. “Who called earlier? I heard the phone go off.”

“It was Mike, pops,” Fredo chimed as he made his way into the kitchen and grabbed a cup before sitting down. “He said he was catching a cab to come here and have coffee.”

Vitalia averted her eyes to the ground as the Don hummed and grabbed a biscotti. “Is that American girl accompanying him?”

Fredo shook his head. “No, he said he was coming alone. Why?”

The Don said nothing more on the subject, instead turning to Clemenza. “Is the meeting scheduled?” Clemenza nodded and took a sip of his coffee. “Good, good. Vitalia?”

She looked back up from her cup of coffee as she finished pouring it. “Yes, godfather?”

“How are the numbers looking at your father’s store?” He asked. Vitalia hummed and placed two biscotti on her plate. 

“They’re doing well, I’ve got more than enough funds to keep it running while also providing your cut,” She explained. “Would you like me to bring over the paperwork tomorrow so Tom can review it when he gets back?”

The Don nodded. “Yes, goddaughter. I have the utmost faith in your abilities, but I like to be sure.”

Vitalia smiled at him kindly. “You do not need to justify your reasoning, godfather. It is through your good graces that I am able to continue my father’s business, and that I have the qualifications to do so as well. Thank you.”

Carmela watched the exchange with approval. Ever since Vitalia had been a little girl she had always known how to thank those that did her a favor, and she always tried her best to avoid disrespect in their house. It was through knowing this that she and the Don had felt secure in their decision to pass her late father, their good friend’s, business on to her pending her graduation with a degree in business. And, a year after making that decision, she could tell it was still the right one. 

A moment later, the discussion at the table was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Everyone peered out of the kitchen and smiled as Michael made his way further into the house. 

“Michael,” Carmela greeted while standing to pull her youngest son into a quick hug. Michael smiled and hugged her back, pressing a kiss to each kiss in greeting. 

“Hello, Ma,” He murmured before turning to his father. “Pops,” He murmured, giving the elder man a quick hug before taking a seat next to Fredo, across from Vitalia. “What are we talking about?”

“Just Vitalia’s business endeavors,” His father explained briefly. 

Michael looked over at Vitalia, who took a sip of her coffee and stared at him from under slightly lowered lashes. He grabbed his own cup of coffee and tried to ignore the things that expression did to him. 

“I didn’t know you were involved in business, Lia,” He said before taking a sip. Vitalia set her own cup down to address him. 

“A year ago, I graduated from Columbia with a degree in Business Management,” She explained. “Afterwards, I took over my father’s hat shop.”

Michael’s eyes widened, he was impressed. “And business has been good?”

“Yes, it has,” She answered, taking a bite of her biscotti a moment later. He hummed and grabbed a biscotti of his own while Vitalia topped off Clemenza’s cup of coffee. “Have you thought about what you’ll do now that the war is over?” 

The Don looked over at Michael at that, his whispered conversation with Clemenza coming to a halt as he did so. Michael shrugged. 

“I don’t know yet, but the business world is somewhat intriguing,” He looked up from his coffee. “Maybe you can show me some of the ropes.”

Vitalia blinked before smiling. “I’d be happy to, but I think your father would be a far better instructor than myself. Most of what I learned outside of class came from him, after all, and I’ve had quite a bit of success because of it.”

Fredo nodded in agreement with Vitalia. “Yeah Mike, Pops is a genius with business. There’s no one better for you to learn from.”

Carmela watched her husband as he studied their youngest son, who stared at him with consideration in his dark brown eyes. Finally, Michael nodded and took a sip of his coffee before responding. 

“I’d like to learn from you, Pops,” He decided. “After all, a man has to make a living for himself, and for his family.”

Michael didn’t miss how Vitalia averted her gaze at that comment, nor the shine of approval in his father’s eyes. He knew it had been hard for his father to see him, the youngest son, go off to war as opposed to stay at home and get a college education. In fact, there had been days where Michael wondered if his father would ever be able to look at him the same way after it was over. 

It seemed everything was forgiven now. The Don smiled at him and clapped a hand on his back before squeezing his shoulder. “Of course I’ll teach you, Michael. We’ll have to figure out a time to meet, especially if you plan on returning to New Hampshire.”

Vitalia maintained a neutral expression at the not so subtle hint the Don was sending Michael, one that the latter seemed to have picked up pretty easily. Michael sighed and took another sip of coffee. 

“I don’t know how that’s going to work yet,” He admitted. “But I’ll keep you updated, alright?”

The Don nodded, assuaged by the answer for the moment, and turned his gaze on to Vitalia. “Michael did make a good point earlier, goddaughter. Bring him around the shop tomorrow, walk him through the documents when you bring them here.”

Vitalia nodded in understanding. “Of course, godfather,” She moved to grab another biscotti, but became distracted by the clock on the kitchen wall. “Oh dear, I need to head back home for the evening.”

Michael frowned as she set her coffee cup back down on the table and began to tidy up her place at the table. “Early opening tomorrow?”

“I have a new shipment of fabric coming,” Vitalia explained. “I’ll need to sort out inventory before we open up, and I won’t be able to do that without sleep.”

“Let me take you home,” He offered suddenly, causing his mother to stare at him with a hint of bewilderment mixed with approval. “It’s late and you shouldn’t be walking around alone.”

“You’ll take a bodyguard with you, no matter what,” The Don interjected with a firm stare at the both of them. Vitalia nodded in agreement before Michael could protest. 

“Of course, godfather,” She moved around the table to kiss his cheek in farewell, followed by Carmela. “I’ll come around tomorrow evening, we’ll have dinner and go over the papers.”

The Don nodded while Carmela hugged her goddaughter goodbye. “Buona notte, Vitalia. Stay safe, and don’t leave Michael’s side until you’re home,” She warned with a familiar protectiveness that Vitalia smiled at. 

“Yes, godmother,” She kissed Carmela goodbye one last time before turning to the rest of the table and making her goodbyes while Michael stood and tidied up their dishes. Once she had said goodbye to everyone, she turned to Michael. 

“Ready to go?” He murmured. Vitalia nodded and threaded her arm through his, allowing him to lead her from the house and out to the street, where they waited for a cab. Michael frowned as a breeze passed by and Vitalia shivered. 

“Sorry, I didn’t anticipate staying this late,” She murmured, her arms coming up to hug her body as she shivered again. Michael rolled his eyes fondly. 

“C’mere,” He ordered while pulling off his coat to drape around her shoulders. Vitalia blushed and tried to ignore the sensations Michael’s scent was inflicting upon her. She smiled up at him. 

“Thank you.” Michael smiled back and allowed one of his arms to snake around her waist as they continued waiting. A few minutes later, the cab pulled up and the door opened. 

“Watch your head,” He advised while guiding her into the cab. Next to them, a bodyguard named Matteo climbed into a car to follow them in. 

Vitalia’s blush deepened and she carefully took a seat before wiggling across the seat to give Michael room. A second later, he joined her and she turned to address the cab driver to give him her address. The driver nodded in response, and then they were off. 

Michael looked out the window as New York City passed them by, bathing them in the lights and soft sound of the city and the traffic around them. Next to him, Vitalia fidgeted with her fingers and eyed the city silently, not sure what to say now that they were alone. Luckily, she didn’t have to speak first. 

“I didn’t know you wanted to work in business,” Michael stated, looking over at Vitalia, who flashed him a smile. 

“I didn’t initially,” She admitted. “But I realized that I truly enjoyed it after I spent a summer helping Tom with the accounting work involved with all the businesses your father has a stake in. The next year, I switched my major and entered business management.”

Michael gave a low whistle in response. “I’ve never known anyone with the patience to help Tom with legal work,” He admitted. “Or the accounting duties.”

Vitalia’s smile widened. “I guess I just have a special touch,” She mused. Michael chuckled and reached out to hold her hand in his, enjoying the feeling of her slim and delicate hand in his. 

“That you do, Lia, that you do,” He complimented, another burst of satisfaction filling him as Vitalia blushed and avoided his gaze. “What else have you been up to in the last four years?”

She hummed and couldn’t hold back a smile as the cab pulled up to the curb outside her apartment building. They quickly paid and made their way up to the door, at which point Vitalia looked up at Michael and brushed a stray lock of hair from his face. 

“You’ll have to take me out sometime if you wanna find that out, won’t you?” She questioned with a slightly daring look in her eyes. Michael grinned at the sight and leaned down to give her nose a quick peck. 

“I guess I will,” He agreed. “Next Thursday, after the store closes?”

“You’ve got yourself a date, Mister Corleone,” She murmured sweetly, her Italian accent peeking through, before opening the door to the building and disappearing inside, leaving a rather flustered Michael Corleone in her wake.

<>

The next morning, Tuesday, Vitalia awoke with a smile and an eager desire to get down to the hat shop as soon as she could. And so, she sped through the process of getting ready while still making the effort to look good and decided to wear a deep burgundy blouse with a long and flowing black skirt, complete with her late mother’s pearl necklace and earrings. Just as she made her way out the door, she turned to the mirror and nodded in approval. 

“Perfect,” She decided. 

With her outfit complete and a quick flick of her wrist to snag her long, cream-colored coat off the rack, she departed her home and started making her way out of the building to the store. When she arrived, she was pleasantly surprised to see one of her hatters, Paolo Esposito, already there and helping to bring in the fabric they had ordered. 

“Buongiorno Signorina Lionetti!” Paolo shouted as she approached. “All the fabric is here, we’re just bringing it in so you can catalog it.”

Vitalia smiled at him appreciatively. “Grazie, Paolo! I’ll be in my office, let me know when everything is inside.”

Paolo gave her a thumbs-up as a response and watched her enter the building known as Capellaio de Lionetti, where she hung her coat up on a rack before taking a seat at her desk and reaching over to a cabinet full of files. She hummed to herself as she pulled out the latest financial reports and began to organize them so that Tom wouldn’t have to worry about that when he returned. For a short while, she was entirely focused on the reports and on grouping them in chronological order and nothing else. 

That was interrupted, however, by a knock from Paolo. Vitalia looked up and smiled while gesturing for him to come in. Paolo nodded and entered the office, the door closing quietly behind him. 

“All of the fabric is inside now if you wanted to take an inventory before I get started with making some of the orders,” He informed her. 

Vitalia nodded and began putting the documents back into folders, now in an organized fashion. “Yes, thank you, Paolo,” She paused as she made her way out into the main room before hanging a left and heading to the storage room. “Whose orders are coming up?”

Paolo reached into his pocket and pulled out a small book with the orders listed in it while following her. “We have one for the Milanesis, two for the Banettis, and another for the Marottas.”

“Complete the Banetti order first,” Vitalia decided as she grabbed a clipboard and began counting up the rolls of fabric. “Then the Marotta, finish up with the Milanesi order if you can.”

“Of course. I’ll get my station set up, just let me know when you’re finished up in here, and then I’ll get started,” He said. Vitalia nodded and turned back to him. 

“Sounds good,” She looked over at the clock. “Everyone else will arrive at nine, and then I’ll be having a guest around today so I’ll be unavailable while they’re here. If you could let the others know when you get a chance, that would be lovely, Paolo.”

He nodded in response. “I’ve got it covered, Miss, don’t you worry ‘bout a thing.”

Vitalia flashed him a smile and watched him leave to get set up before turning back to the fabric. She resumed her idle humming as she continued making a list, as well as occasionally removing rolls of fabric to unroll them and measure them. In the end, it took her a couple of hours before she had a complete record. With a sigh, she retreated back to her office and began transcribing the numbers to a more tidy chart to bring to Tom. 

“Hmm, we’ll need to start ordering more wool,” She mumbled to herself as she brought up the sales reports and compared the orders. “It’s getting cooler, people will want warmer hats.”

Knock knock knock. Vitalia looked up to see Paolo standing outside her office door with Michael standing just behind him. She smiled and set her pen down before standing and smoothing her skirt with her hands as she made her way over to the door. A moment later, she pulled it open, still smiling at the two men. 

“Mister Corleone said he has a meeting with you,” Paolo explained. Vitalia nodded. 

“Yes, Paolo, he’s going to be going over some business matters with me for the morning,” She reminded him. “Thank you for bringing him here.”

Paolo nodded and bid his farewell before going over to his workspace where several unfinished hats sat upon mannequins for continuation. Vitalia watched him leave before turning to Michael with an ever-present smile. 

“You’re right on time,” She mused with a glance at the clock, “We only opened a few minutes ago.”

Michael grinned at her. “Well, I do like to be punctual,” He teased. Vitalia laughed softly and gestured at the coat rack next to her office door. 

“You can hang your hat and coat there if you’d like,” She offered. “I just finished transcribing the inventory reports, and was moving on to order comparison so I can figure out what we’ll need to put in the displays and get more materials for.”

Michael hummed and pulled off his coat before hanging it next to hers, followed by his hat on another hook. When he turned around, Vitalia had moved another chair behind her desk for him to use. He smiled and took a seat next to her while she pulled out another stack of documents. 

“So, to start, let's walk through the general financial reports and then go from there,” Vitalia suggested. Michael nodded in agreement. 

“Whatever you say, boss,” He replied, his voice only lightly teasing her and earning a wide smile for his efforts. 

For the entirety of the morning, Vitalia taught him how to read every single form of document in the shop and how to compare them easily so as to make decisions for the future of the business. By the time noon rolled around, Michael had already gotten a fairly decent grasp on it and insisted on taking her out to get some lunch as a partial thank you for her efforts. 

“Michael, you don’t have to do that,” She assured him while packing another set of files away for Tom to review. “You’re already taking me on a date in a week!”

Michael opened his mouth to tell her he was going to take her out, no matter what she said, but was promptly cut off by the telephone ringing. He frowned while Vitalia hummed and picked it up. His frown deepened, however, when Vitalia frowned as well. 

“A call from the Ritz-Carlton?” She wondered, her eyes sliding over to Michael, who held out his hand for the phone. “Yes, we’ll accept the call.”

Vitalia watched as Michael took the phone from her and held it up to his ear. “Hello? Kay?” 

She tensed at the mention of the blonde woman and made herself busy with the rest of the papers she had to pack up. Michael watched her carefully while listening to Kay on the other end of the line. 

“Yes, I’m at a business meeting right now. Can we talk later?” There was a pause. “Yes, I’ll be at this number most likely.” Another pause. “I don’t know when I’ll be at the hotel again,” Michael adjusted his weight from one foot to the other. “No, I’m not heading back to New Hampshire yet. I have some business to take care of here.”

Vitalia walked over to the coat rack and began pulling on her coat, deciding she did want to go for lunch with Michael after all. Anything to distract her from Kay was welcome, after all. 

“Okay, give me a call when you get there safely,” Michael listened to Kay. “Okay, goodbye.”

Michael placed the phone back into the receiver and looked up at Vitalia, who smiled at him despite not being a huge fan of the interaction she had just witnessed. “Ready to go?”

“Mhmm,” She nodded. Michael slipped on his coat and hat, “We’ll have to stay close though, I don’t like being too far away from the shop when it’s open.”

Vitalia smiled as Michael assured her they would not be going too far away and was happy to take a quick break to walk in the open air of the city to a nearby cafe that she would frequent on occasion. Afterward, Michael returned to the store with her and was content to simply keep Vitalia company until they were both forced to pack up and head to the Corleone house where Tom was waiting to review the documents. 

<>

Then, a week and two days later, Thursday arrived and with it a large bundle of anxious nerves for both Vitalia and Michael. Granted, the former did have it slightly easier as she had a full day at her store to distract her but the period between the store closing and Michael’s arrival at her apartment was one for the history books. 

Vitalia’s blood pounded in her ears as she sprinted to her bathroom to wash her face and quickly change out of her work clothes, which consisted of yet another blouse and a skirt. She also ended up brushing her teeth for good measure before rushing over to her wardrobe, which she threw open with fervor. 

“Where are the stupid dresses?” She muttered to herself as she rifled through the line of clothing until she reached a small group of garments. “There they are.”

Her hands trembled with excitement as she pulled out a variety of dresses, one in black, another in red, and one in a pale green, which she quickly put back on the rack. Vitalia then moved to stand in front of her mirror and hold up the red dress and then the black one in an attempt to decide between the two. Her eyes widened as she heard a car pull up outside the building. 

“Okay, we’re going with the black,” She decided before tugging it off the hanger and undoing the buttons before slipping it on. 

The dress had a cinched waist that accentuated her curves nicely, which was always helpful in cases like hers where her body was quite slim, and sleeves that stopped halfway down her upper arm while the skirt ended just below her knees. Vitalia quickly adjusted it and nodded before grabbing a different set of jewelry made up of a necklace with a single floral pendant in the shape of a rose and matching earrings. She then moved out to the living room and slipped on a pair of petite red heels before taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. 

“Okay,” She reached out and grabbed her handbag from her couch. “I have everything, I just need my coat.”

Vitalia forced herself to slow her breathing as she carefully pulled on her coat, trying her best not to have any awkward lines or bunching due to the dress, and smiled when she was successful. Then, a knock resounded from the door. 

She froze and took one last deep breath before turning and walking over to her door, which she unlocked and pulled open to reveal Michael with Matteo standing behind him. The two of them smiled at each other. 

“Hello, Michael,” Vitalia greeted, her voice slightly breathy. 

“Hello, Lia,” He murmured in reply before pulling out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. Vitalia’s eyes widened in delight. “These are for you.”

“Oh, Michael,” She carefully took the bouquet, made up of peonies, lilac, some greenery, and a few small roses. “This is beautiful! Hang on, let me put them in some water, and then I’ll be all set,” She promised. 

Michael smiled and followed her into her apartment while she went into the kitchen to fetch a vase from a cabinet. As she did so, he allowed his eyes to wander over the photos, paintings, and various mementos that decorated the living room and noted with interest that almost all of them featured a Corleone in some way. There was a photo of Vitalia with all of the Corleone siblings as children, another with her and Sonny at a party, one of Tom and Vitalia at Tom’s graduation from university, several of Connie and Vitalia from when they were in high school, and one last one that caught his eye. He walked over to the small table near the door and picked up a photo he had never seen before. 

Vitalia was standing next to him, the both of them in swimwear on the beach, sipping on a glass of lemonade while Michael looked out at the beach with a bottle of Coca Cola in his hand. He smiled as he caught sight of Sonny and Tom swimming in the ocean and Connie with her friend Lucy on the sand in the background. Michael stopped looking at the photo, however, when he heard Vitalia clear her throat from behind him. He turned around to see her beaming at him, having set the vase on her coffee table. 

“Do you remember that day?” She asked while walking over to look at the photo over his shoulder. “Your parents decided we needed a day off, and just took us to the beach with barely a warning.”

Michael nodded and set the photo down. “We should take a trip like that again,” He paused. “Maybe next summer when the ocean won’t freeze us to death.”

Vitalia laughed softly. “That sounds like a plan,” She agreed. “For now, however, let’s enjoy ourselves.”

“Yes,” Michael agreed, taking her hand in his before guiding her out of the apartment, the both of them checking it was locked before proceeding down the stairs. “I thought a walk through Central Park would be nice. What do you think?”

The both of them shivered slightly as they made their way outside and got into a cab, at which point Vitalia leaned in to rest her head on his shoulder. “It’s perfect, Michael,” She murmured with a sweet smile.”

Michael smiled back. “Good. We can get food afterward, once it gets a little darker.”

Vitalia nodded in agreement and allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of Michael’s body against hers as the cab brought them to the center of the city, where the large expanse of grass and paths known as Central Park awaited them. When they arrived, they paid and tipped the cab driver before starting their journey into the park, which seemed to encircle them in their own little world. 

“So,” Vitalia began. Michael looked down at her, their hands still held together. “Have you enjoyed learning from me these past several days?”

Michael chuckled and nodded. “Yes, you’re a pretty good teacher, Lia. Even my father thinks so.”

“That’s a relief,” Vitalia teased while internally preening at the praise. “Do you think you’ll take over one of the other businesses your father controls?”

There was silence for a moment before Michael shrugged. “I don’t know, I haven’t found one that I’m incredibly passionate about, unlike you,” He pointed out. Vitalia blushed. 

“I like the hat-making business,” She defended with a smile, knowing Michael was just teasing. “I think you’re being smart by not choosing a business yet, though. It would be far less enjoyable to be trapped with one you don’t actually have an interest in.”

Michael nodded before squeezing her hand lightly. “Speaking of your business, what else do you like to do for fun?” He wondered. “I can’t imagine you still have all the same hobbies you did four years ago.”

Vitalia laughed and shook her head while squeezing Michael’s hand back. “Well, I still like to bake and cook, so that didn’t change. I did lose my interest and needlepoint though,” She admitted. 

“What’d you take up instead?” Michael asked. Vitalia hummed. 

“Knitting,” She replied. “It’s lovely since it’s repetitive and easy enough to do when I’m not working.” Michael nodded in understanding. “I also kept up my reading, and now I have two bookshelves in my bedroom since I keep buying so many books.”

Michael laughed softly. “You were always a big reader, explains why you were so good in school,” He teased. Vitalia rolled her eyes fondly. “What do you like to knit most?”

“Scarves,” She replied immediately. “They’re the easiest thing to knit. Just one long rectangle.”

The both of them laughed at that before Vitalia looked up at Michael. “What hobbies did you take up? I imagine there were times when you were bored out of your mind.”

Michael shrugged. “Not really. I spent a lot of time reading as well, and occasionally writing if I had the time or energy.”

“What did you write?” Vitalia asked, her curiosity more than piqued at that answer. Michael smiled at her. 

“There were a few stories here and there, but a lot of it was just what I was thinking or feeling with a few poems sprinkled in,” He admitted. “Not whole novels or anything fancy.”

Vitalia blinked at him while her mouth hung open in an amazed smile. “I’d love to read them someday,” She decided. Michael raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, you know I have neverending interest in what people write.”

“That is true,” Michael murmured, remembering all the times Vitalia would wander off because she saw a piece of writing that was interesting. It would sometimes take all four Corleone siblings to drag her away from a book she was reading. “How about this, you knit me something and I’ll let you read some of them.”

Vitalia grinned. “You’re on, Michael Corleone,” She agreed, purposefully letting her accent come out when she said his name, the both of them delighting in the sound. 

A breeze passed through the trees, sending leaves tumbling down through the air and across the path that Michael Corleone was leading her down. Neither of them said a word, just enjoyed the company of the other as they walked, until the street lamps suddenly flicked on. Michael looked up to see the sun was well and truly set on the horizon and nightfall was upon them. He looked back down at Vitalia, who was staring at the sunset with a happy smile. 

“Are you ready for dinner?” He asked softly, whispering in her ear as he did so. Vitalia shivered, despite having a light coat on, and nodded. 

“Dinner sounds good,” She hummed. Michael nodded and turned to lead her through the park where they caught a cab on the other side to take them down to Bamonte’s in Williamsburg. 

Vitalia’s eyes widened as they pulled up to the restaurant and was instantly glad she had put on one of her nicer dresses and a full set of jewelry as she caught a glimpse of the interior. She followed Michael out of the cab and smiled at the host as they entered the restaurant, who quickly escorted them to a table. When they arrived, Michael passed his coat and hat to the host before moving to stand behind Vitalia and help pull the coat from her body. She smiled and slipped out of her coat, which Michael also handed the host. 

“Thank you,” She murmured, her face darkening with a blush as Michael pulled out her chair. Vitalia took a seat and fidgeted with her hands as Michael pushed the chair back in. 

Michael took a seat across from her and took a moment to study her carefully. Her hair was down and framed her face delicately before continuing down to where it ended just below her breasts. Idly, he realized he liked it more than when she wore her hair up, which he had seen in his time learning at her store. His eyes then traced over every inch of her face, and he noticed she was wearing the barest amount of makeup, and that she was blushing under the weight of his stare. He smiled to himself before being distracted by the arrival of the waiter. 

“Buona notte,” The waiter greeted with a quick smile. “Benvenuto a Bamonte’s, what can I get for you this evening?”

Vitalia watched as Michael looked over at her and smiled. “I’ll have whatever you think is good, I’ve never been here.”

Michael nodded and quickly put in an order before turning back to Vitalia, his posture gradually becoming more relaxed the longer he spent in her presence. A moment later, Vitalia let out a soft laugh. 

“You’re staring at me, Michael,” She murmured softly while the waiter poured each of them a glass of wine. Michael smiled at her. 

“I can’t help it, you look beautiful,” He replied sincerely. Vitalia’s eyes darted away from him and her fingers fidgeted once more as she let the compliment sink in. 

“Are you always this charming?’ She wondered, her eyes shining with delight. Michael laughed and took a sip of wine. 

“I don’t know about always, but I definitely try my best,” He admitted. “Do you always get this dressed up, or is that just for me?”

Vitalia took a sip of her wine before responding. “Well, seeing as I’ve not been on any dates in the last four years, I think it’s just for you.”

Michael tried to ignore the way her words of devotion made him want to kiss her senseless in the middle of the restaurant, but it was a struggle. He watched her take another sip and cursed the way she looked at him, for it only added to her appeal. Vitalia set her glass down a moment later. 

“What are you thinking about, Michael?” She wondered, leaning in slightly to study his features. Michael raised an eyebrow and she laughed softly. “Don’t give me that look, you know as well as I that you have a distinct expression on your face when you’re thinking.”

He chuckled in response, knowing she was right, as per usual. “I’m thinking about you, about us.”

Vitalia raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what about us?”

“It’s so natural,” He took a deep breath as Vitalia’s head tilted to the side in confusion. “I’ve never been on a date with a woman where it felt so right.”

And admitting that scared him. After all, he and Vitalia had known each other for ages and were, as Fredo put it, ‘thick as thieves’. Yet, they also had the capacity to be forced apart as they had been four years ago. 

Vitalia stared at him, a shy and somewhat embarrassed smile on her face at the sweet words as she struggled to figure out how to respond to that comment. Michael, however, felt an entirely different sensation wash over him. He suddenly felt the slightest bit more secure in the idea of pursuing Vitalia, in finding something he was missing within their relationship. 

The thought tickled the back of his mind for the rest of the evening, and it was only when they arrived at her apartment that he was able to focus again. Michael stared down at Vitalia as she turned away from the door to face him with a smile. 

“I had a lovely time tonight,” She confessed, her heart feeling like a balloon from all the happiness within it. Michael smiled in return. 

“So did I,” He admitted. 

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Michael leaned down and Vitalia tilted her chin up, her eyes fluttering shut as their lips met in a chaste kiss. A moment later, Michael pulled away and reached up to cup her right cheek. Vitalia leaned into the touch, prompting a slight flutter in Michael’s heart. 

“When can I see you again?” He asked softly. His eyes were burning with desire as Vitalia stared up at him with delight shining in her eyes. 

“As long as I’m not working,” She raised her hands up to smooth down the lapels of his coat. “You can see me whenever you’d like,” She promised. 

Michael grinned down at her and pressed another kiss to her lips before pulling away. “I’ll see you at the house this Sunday?”

Vitalia nodded. Sunday was when the entire family, including her, gathered together for a dinner that could last longer than two hours at a time. “Of course,” She rested her hand on the doorknob. “Perhaps I’ll see you before then.”

Michael nodded contemplatively. “Perhaps,” He agreed. The two of them smiled at each other. “Goodnight, Lia.”

“Goodnight, Michael,” Vitalia murmured before turning and entering her apartment and closing the door, where she almost let out a scream of victory before rushing to kneel next to her vase of flowers with a dreamy smile. “I’ll see you Sunday.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we saw Michael in a rather complicated light in this chapter as he struggles to make a decision and I'm afraid to say it will only get worse. But... we did see some rather sweet moments that I hope made up for it at least a little. Please leave a comment so I know what you guys like and don't like, I do find them helpful and encouraging!


	4. Developments and Tragedies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything starts to pick up~!

The rest of fall passed in what felt like the blink of an eye, and winter arrived faster than normal this year. That is, for Vitalia Lionetti and Michael Corleone it did. A couple states away, however, Kay Adams believed this had to have been the longest fall she had ever seen. 

Ever since Connie’s wedding, Kay’s entire world seemed to revolve around Michael and his absence. As the months drew on, this had only been alleviated by the sparse visits she had been graced with over the last few months. One of which was now coming to an end, on the twenty-second of December. 

“Michael, do you have to go?” Kay asked softly as she watched Michael pull on his coat and hat, the latter seemingly newer and better made than his last one. He looked up at her with a sigh. 

“Yes Kay, I have business to take care of,” He murmured. Every single visit he would tell her that, and every time she believed him a little bit less. Kay took a step closer and looked up into his eyes. 

“How about I come with you?” She offered. “I’ll stay in a hotel and you can stay with me when you’re not working.”

Michael stared at her for several moments before nodding once. “Okay. Pack a bag, I’ll be outside.”

He watched as Kay dashed off a moment later, her eyes wide and filled with a hopeful happiness that he couldn’t help but feel bad for encouraging. His chest heaved with a sigh as he thought back to a particular incident where Kay and Vitalia had inadvertently crossed paths and winced at the memory. 

_ Vitalia smiled as she twirled the phone cord around her fingers, waiting for the call to connect so she could talk to Michael for the first time since he had left for New Hampshire for a week. Her eyes widened as it clicked through.  _

_ “Hello?” Michael’s voice echoed down the line. Her smile grew to a beam.  _

_ “Hello,” She replied, a ping of smug pride hitting her as Michael gasped softly. On the other end of the line, Michael smiled.  _

_ “Hey, Lia, how are you?” He asked. Vitalia leaned against the wall next to her phone, her smile still in place.  _

_ “I’m good, just got back from dinner with Connie and Carlo,” She murmured. “Her cooking skills have gotten better.” She didn’t mention the black eye that had stood out on her skin like an ink stain on paper, or the way Carlo leered at her throughout the dinner.  _

_ Michael laughed softly and shook his head fondly. “That’s good at least. How was the shop today? Any large orders” _

_ “Oh, yes,” He heard the shuffling of papers from her end of the line, “Mister Romano ordered hats for his wife and three sons, so we’ll have a lot to do in the next couple of days.” _

_ “That’s good business though,” He reminded her. “Any others?” _

_ “We had one other large order from Signora Revello, she’s getting her daughter an assortment of hats for each season, but she wants us to make them in stages,” Vitalia explained. “What about you? How’s New Hampshire?” _

_ Michael sighed. “It’s been pretty good, but-” _

_ “Michael?” Vitalia stiffened and her smile dropped at the sound of Kay’s voice on the other line. “Michael, we need to leave if we’re going to make the reservation.” _

_ “I’ll be there in a moment,” He replied distantly, having turned from the phone to address Kay. He turned back and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, I have to leave now. I’ll call you before I get back, okay?” _

_ Vitalia bit back the irritated reply she had tucked at the back of her throat and nodded. “Of course, Michael. Have a good rest of your trip, alright?” _

_ “Thank you, Lia,” He replied. “Have a good night.” _

_ The line clicked off a moment later. _

He was very lucky that Vitalia hadn’t given him hell for that moment. In fact, she didn’t even mention it when he returned. He was actually the one to bring it up, and she had responded with what she had always believed to be true. 

_ “Michael, unless you tell me about it or want me to be involved, it’s none of my business,” She reminded him. “Your private life is your business and yours alone. I will never ask about it, and I will never bring it up. That part is entirely up to you.” _

Oh yes, he was a very lucky man. He just wished he had the balls to back it up, so he could end things with Kay and move on. It just seemed impossible. 

“Michael?” He turned around as Kay appeared on the front porch, a suitcase in hand and a smile on her face. “Ready to head out?”

Michael nodded and offered his arm out of habit. “Let’s go,” He murmured. 

Kay’s smile wilted ever so slightly, but she pushed on and decided to just relish in his company for the entire trip down to the city before they arrived at the hotel. However, as soon as they arrived, Michael didn’t stick around and decided to immediately go to the hat shop as Vitalia would most likely be there as opposed to at the house. 

<>

Vitalia looked up as a knock resounded from her office door, and smiled at the sight of Michael standing just outside it. She immediately stood from her place and opened her door, earning a wide smile from Michael. 

“Oh Michael,” She murmured as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “Mi sei mancato.”

Michael shivered at the sound of her speaking Italian and hugged her back before pulling away to remove his coat and hat, which he hung next to her heavier, black, winter coat. “Anche tu mi sei mancato,” He assured her before tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I thought I’d come visit you before we go to the house for dinner.”

Vitalia laughed softly. “It’s Saturday, Michael, we have a whole day before we need to go to dinner.”

His eyes widened at that realization. “Is it really?” He looked over at the calendar hanging by the door. “Oh. It is.”

She reached up and cupped his cheek with her left hand. “Are you feeling alright? You look a little burned out,” Vitalia murmured.

Michael laughed softly and pulled her close to him with one hand on the small of her back and another on the back of her head. “I feel a lot better now that I’m back,” He admitted. Vitalia smiled up at him. “How about you? Has everything been alright here?”

She nodded. “Everything’s been great, I just wish you could’ve been here for more of the decorating,” She noted with a slight sadness. Michael hummed and moved a hand up to tilt her chin up. 

“Well, I’m back now, and we can do something just the two of us for Christmas,” He promised before pressing his lips to hers. 

Vitalia’s eyes fluttered shut as she leaned into the kiss, the feeling of their lips pressing and sliding against each other sending shivers down her spine. She reached up and gripped Michael’s shoulders in her hands while his own moved down to her hips, only breaking the kiss to steal a breath of air before joining once more. After another moment, Michael pulled away and stared down at her, delighting in the sight of her dilated pupils, flushed cheeks, and bruised lips. 

“How long have you been waiting to do that?” She finally asked. Michael winked at her. 

“About a week.” Vitalia blushed, knowing that was how long it had been since they had last kissed. “Now, what d’you say about seeing a show at Radio City for Christmas?”

Her eyes widened. “Oh Michael,” She stood up on the tips of her toes to press a kiss to each of his cheeks. “I’d love to go! What are we going to see?” She wondered. 

“Well, I believe they’re showing ‘The Bells of St. Mary’s’ tomorrow,” He ran his hands up and down the curve of her waist. “And I know how much you love Bing Crosby.”

Vitalia could’ve gone to heaven right then and there, but instead settled for hugging Michael tightly. “Did you plan this, even before you came home early?” She asked, her voice soft and sweet in his ear. 

Michael nodded. “I was planning for Monday, but we can get seats tomorrow,” He promised. The two of them pulled away enough for Michael to give her a quick kiss on the nose. “Sounds good?”

“As always,” She reached up and adjusted Michael’s tie with nimble fingers. “You and your plans are perfect.” Vitalia let out a happy sigh and smiled up at him. “How did I get so lucky?”

“I think I should be asking that darling,” He murmured. Vitalia blushed and kissed his cheek once again before they separated fully. “Now, how much time do you have left before closing?”

Vitalia looked over at the clock and back at him. “About fifteen minutes. Do you want to wait for me and then we can do coffee at my place?” 

Michael nodded and smiled at her as she beamed before following her behind her desk, where the both of them studied reports and finished up the day’s work before leaving to enjoy hot coffee and fresh canestrelli. Then, later that night, when Michael returned to the hotel to visit Kay, it was all she could do to pretend that smile was for her. In fact, by the end of the night, she felt as if it truly was. 

<>

The next day, Vitalia spent the better part of an hour getting ready for her and Michael’s date at Radio City Music Hall, while Kay spent that exact same time attempting to convince him not to go. 

“Michael, you’re already going to your house for dinner,” She reminded him as she watched him change into a nice suit. “Why can’t we spend the rest of the evening beforehand together?”

With a sigh, Michael turned back to her. “Kay, I’m going with a close family friend to make up for the fact I haven’t been here to prepare for Christmas, understand?” He looked over at a mirror to check his appearance. 

Kay stared at him for several seconds, attempting to gather up enough courage to ask him something. Finally, she took a deep breath. “Michael, are you going with that girl,” She paused and tried to remember her name. “Maria?”

“Vitalia,” He corrected her instantly before freezing while Kay gaped at him. Michael cursed himself to hell in the back of his mind and turned to face her while adjusting his tie. “And yes, I’m going with her. Why? Is that a problem?”

Michael watched as Kay’s lips pursed and her eyes narrowed while her fingers tightened around bunches of her skirt. “I just want to spend more time with you,” She murmured. “We’ve barely seen each other these past few months compared to-”

She clamped her mouth shut and shook her head slowly. Michael raised an eyebrow. “Compared to when, Kay?” She avoided his gaze. “Are you talking about before the wedding?” He asked slowly. 

The guilty flash in her eyes told him he had hit the nail on the head. “Kay, my family is important to me and I’m not going to abandon them and just run off to New Hampshire forever,” He walked over and took her chin in his hand to tilt her gaze up to his. “I was wrong to stay away for so long before the wedding in the first place, and now I get to make up for that. You understand, don’t you?”

Kay didn’t say anything for several seconds before silently nodding. Michael smiled down at her and pressed a kiss to her forehead before turning back to the mirror and leaving her sitting on the edge of the bed. 

“What time will you be back?” She asked him softly. Michael pulled on his coat and his hat, which she had noticed said the name ‘Lionetti’ on the tag.

“Late, I’ll call you if something comes up,” He promised. Kay nodded in response and opened her mouth to say something else, but he was out the door before she had the chance. 

<>

Michael took a deep breath as he raised his hand before knocking three times on the door to Vitalia’s apartment, behind which he heard a faint ‘Come in!’. He turned the knob on the door a moment later and entered the apartment, glad that there weren’t bodyguards following him inside for once. Then again, his family didn’t know he was back yet. He shook off the thought and looked around, smiling as he noticed the sheer amount of Christmas decorations dotting the walls and the tree in the corner of the room. 

“I like all the decorations,” He shouted, only slightly teasing. From behind the door that he knew led to her bedroom, he heard Vitalia laugh. “You might have put my mother’s house to shame.”

“Oh, Michael, we both know that’s not true,” Vitalia replied through the door as she continued getting ready. “Your mother’s house is always the epitome of festivity.”

Michael shrugged and nodded, unable to truly deny that statement. “Are you planning on spending Christmas morning there this year?” He asked. 

Vitalia walked over to her mirror and shouted her reply while checking her hair, makeup, and jewelry one last time. “Of course! I’ve spent every Christmas there for thirteen years,” She reminded him. “Will you?”

“If you’re there, of course I’ll be there,” He trailed off as the door to her bedroom opened to reveal Vitalia, looking absolutely radiant. 

Her hair had been pulled into a chignon at the base of her neck and gleamed like ebony silk as it passed under the light of the lamps in the living room. She had put on a little more makeup than normal, with liner and mascara framing her eyes, traces of rouge to highlight her cheekbones and a red lipstick that did unspeakable things to his hormones. Donning her figure was a marine blue dress, with elbow-length sleeves and a skirt that ended midway down her shin, below which was a pair of black ballet flats. To round it all out, she wore her mother’s set of pearl earrings with the matching necklace. 

“How do I look?” She asked softly while doing a small turn in the dress. 

Michael swallowed and took a step forward until he was standing a mere foot away before taking her hands in his and bringing them up to press kisses to each one. “You’re beautiful,” He murmured against her smooth and soft skin. 

Vitalia smiled at him and leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek. “Grazie,” She whispered in his ear as she pulled away to get a look at him. “My my, aren’t you handsome.”

Michael grinned down at her. “Handsome enough to take you out?”

She tilted her head back and laughed gently before nodding. “More than handsome enough for that,” She assured him. “Especially since you have more than looks going for you.”

“Oh? Do tell,” He said as Vitalia made her way over to her coat rack to pull on her winter coat and a hat. She turned back a moment later, her smile only widening. 

“Well,” They made their way out of the apartment, their hands interlocked, “You’re endlessly charming, heroically brave,” Michael led her into a cab, “Undoubtedly thoughtful, and quite possibly the only man I’ve ever loved.”

“Quite possibly?” Michael echoed with a raised eyebrow as the cab began its journey to Radio City. Vitalia laughed and leaned in to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. 

“Truly,” She corrected, her eyes falling closed when Michael pulled her into a kiss in response. 

<>

Almost three hours later, Michael and Vitalia left Radio City with wide smiles on their faces and a spring in their step as they raced the clock in an attempt to get back to the Corleone house in time for dinner. As they walked, Michael looked over at Vitalia with a teasing smile. 

“Lia, would you like me better if I were a priest? Like in the story, you know?” He asked her. Vitalia looked up at him with an appraising frown before shaking her head. 

“No,” She decided. Michael laughed softly and swung their hands as they walked. 

“Then would you like me better if I were Bing Crosby?” He questioned. Vitalia’s eyes widened comically as she pulled an exaggerated expression of deep thought onto her face. 

“Now that's a thought…” She teased before trailing off, her eyes wide with horror rather than mirth now. “Michael…”

Michael paused in his tracks and frowned at the look on her face. “What's the matter?” He wondered, his gloved hands coming up to cup her face gently. 

Vitalia raised a finger to point at the newspapers in the newsstand they had begun to walk past. Michael frowned and followed it, only to pale at what she had seen. He lunged forward and grabbed a copy of The Daily Mirror, the headline of which read: “VITO CORLEONE FEARED MURDERED”.

“No, no, no,” Michael muttered furiously as he flicked through the pages of the newspaper to the main article, "Assassins Gun Down Underworld Chief". Next to him, Vitalia looked around wildly. “They don't say if he's dead or alive…”

“C’mon,” Vitalia ordered, her hand grabbing his arm to drag him to a phone booth across the street. “Call Sonny, find out what happened and where we need to go.”

Michael nodded and hurriedly dialed the number, his body shaking with anxiety as the call began to connect. Finally, it went through. Vitalia watched him from the outside, a careful eye on any passersby. 

“Sonny… it’s Michael,” He began, wincing when he heard Sonny take a quick breath that he was sure was a mix of relief and fury. 

“Michael, where you been?” Sonny demanded. “We’ve been trying to get ahold of you.”

“Is he all right?” Michael retorted, not about to answer any questions until his own were answered. Sonny sighed on the other end of the line. 

“We don't know yet. There's all kinds of stories,” Yet another sigh. Michael could hear the slight amount of tears choking his brother’s voice. “He was hit bad, Mikey…”

Michael pinched the bridge of his nose and looked out the glass paneling at Vitalia, who only had eyes for him that were filled with worry. He reached out and pressed his hand against the glass, a small smile appearing when she mimicked him. 

“Are you there?” He jumped slightly at the suddenness of Sonny’s voice. 

“Yeah, I'm here,” Michael assured his elder brother.

“Where you been? I was worried,” Sonny snapped, his brotherly tendencies leaping out. Michael winced. 

“I just left Radio City with Vitalia, we were on a date,” He explained weakly. There was an astonished silence on the other side of the line for a few seconds before Sonny responded. 

“We’ll talk about that later,” He promised. “Look, come home, kid. You should be with Mama, ya hear?” Another pause. “And bring Vitalia. Who knows how much Sollozzo knows about the family and the business owners that work with him?”

Michael nodded and looked back over at Vitalia, who had yet to look away from him. “Alright, we’re grabbing a cab now,” He agreed before hanging up. He took a deep breath and then exited the booth, at which point Vitalia pulled him into a tight hug. 

“Let’s get back to the house,” She whispered. Michael nodded, taking a moment to breathe in the scent of her perfume before pulling away. 

“Sonny says the hit was bad,” He muttered as they made their way over to the street to grab a cab. “They don’t know if he’s gonna make it.”

Vitalia quickly hailed a cab and damn near shoved Michael into it before giving the cabbie directions and turning to him with eyes alight with determination. “Your father is a strong man, Michael. He will be fine, and all this,” She gestured to him, “Is doing is stressing you out unnecessarily.”

Michael blinked at her several times before gathering her up in a tight hug. “I don’t think I ever made things right with him,” He admitted. “And I’m scared I’m going to lose him before I get the chance.”

There was a long stretch of silence as the two of them held each other until Vitalia sighed and pulled away to cup his face in her gloved hands. “Michael, your father loves you unconditionally and is incredibly proud of you. Never forget that,” She reminded him firmly. “And focus on how you can best help your family right now.”

Michael nodded slowly and pulled her back into an embrace for the rest of the cab ride, trying to ignore the pit of ice in his stomach as they crossed the city to get to the house. Next to him, Vitalia took deep breaths and forced herself to maintain her composure as best she could. If not for her sake, then at least for Michael’s.

<>

Vitalia and Michael exited the taxi as soon as it came to a stop in the driveway, and left the payment to one of the guards as they dashed into the house with worried expressions. She pushed open the door and felt a bloom of relief at the sight of Clemenza and his wife, Elisa. The both of them looked up as she and Michael took off their coats and hung them on the rack and made their way over. 

“Mike, your mother's over in the hospital with your father; looks like he's gonna pull through, thank God,” His gaze slid over to Vitalia, who held up a hand and nodded understandingly. 

“I’m heading to the kitchen, I imagine there will be a lot of people to feed tonight,” She guessed, earning a nod from Clemenza. Vitalia then turned to Michael and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I’ll see you later.”

Clemenza’s eyes widened as she then took her leave, rolling up her sleeves as she went to the kitchen where Sandra and Theresa worked tirelessly at the stove, their kids having been placed in the many bedrooms on the second floor. He turned back to Michael, his jaw hanging open. 

“So, when did that happen?” He demanded. Michael sighed and started heading down the halls to the study. 

“I need to talk to Sonny,” He replied, refusing to answer that question for the moment. Clemenza clamped his mouth shut at that and followed him into the study, where Sonny sat at the Don’s desk with Tom nearby and Tessio occupying another seat. 

Sonny looked up and raised an eyebrow while leaning back in his chair. “So, you were on a date with our parents’ goddaughter and you didn’t think to let us know where you were so we could call?”

Tom looked over at Michael, his eyes wide. “That’s where you were?” He asked, incredulous. 

Michael glared at the both of them. “I didn’t know that Pops was in danger,” He ran a hand down his face and took a seat in a chair. “If I had, we would’ve stayed close to the house instead.”

Sonny shook his head and then turned back to Tom. “Enough of that. Tom, whattaya think?”

Clemenza and Tessio also looked over at Tom, who shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought over the dilemma the family had found themselves in. First, they rejected Sollozzo’s deal, and then the next thing they knew they were under attack and he had been kidnapped. He sighed and looked back up at Sonny. 

“Too much…” He began. Sonny raised an eyebrow.

“Huh?” Clemenza rolled his eyes at the statement and looked over at Tessio. 

“It's a lot of bad blood. Sollozzo, Philip Tattaglia, Bruno Tattaglia; Garbone…” He listed with a disapproving frown. Tom shook his head as he continued to explain himself to Sonny. 

“It's too far – I think it's too personal... The Don'll consider this all…” 

Michael tuned them out and leaned in to whisper to Clemenza, “You kill all those guys?”

Clemenza didn’t get a chance to respond though, as Sonny interjected immediately. 

“Hey, stay out of it, Mickey; do me a favor,” He snapped before refocusing on Tom. “So, what can we do?”

Tom sighed. “Sollozzo's the key. You get rid of him, everything falls into line. Now, what about Luca? Sollozzo thinks he's…”

Sonny shook his head. “Aw hell...I don't know. If Luca sold out we're in a lot of trouble, believe me. A lot of trouble,” He admitted. Tom’s gaze switched to the other occupants in the room. 

“Has anyone been able to get in touch with Luca?” He asked. Clemenza shook his head no. 

“Eh, I've been trying all night. He might be shacked up,” He pointed out. Sonny looked over at Michael while Tom denied Clemenza’s theory. 

Hey, Mick, do me a favor, try ringing him…” Michael nodded and grabbed the phone before dialing the number. Meanwhile, Sonny looked back over at Tom. “Well, Tom you're consiglieri, now what do we do if the old man dies, God forbid.”

Tom drummed his fingers on the desk and shook his head slowly. “If we lose the old man we lose our political contacts and half our strength. The other New York Families might wind up supporting Sollozzo just to avoid a long destructive war.”

Clemenza and Tessio nodded in agreement at that, spurring Tom to give the harder piece of advice he’d ever given in his time as the consiglieri. 

“This is almost 1946, nobody wants bloodshed anymore. If your father dies… then... you make the deal, Sonny.”

Sonny scoffed and glared at Tom. “That's easy for you to say, Tom, he's not your father!”

Michael winced at the slight while Tom’s eyes flashed with fury. “I'm as much a son to him as you or Mike,” He began, his voice climbing in volume. 

Knock knock. All five of the men looked over at the door. 

“What is it?” Sonny demanded. The door swung open a second later, to reveal Paulie holding a handkerchief to his face and looking nervous and somewhat sickly. Clemenza scowled at him.

“Hey, Paulie, I thought I told you to stay put,” He muttered, his lips pursed and hands clenched as he addressed the bodyguard. 

Paulie fidgeted again. “Well, the guy at the gates say...say they got a package,” He stammered, his eyes darting around nervously. Sonny raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah?” Paulie nodded, causing Sonny’s eyes to move to Tessio. “Hey, Tessio, go see what it is.”

Tessio nodded before stepping out of the room, while Paulie remained in the doorway. Once the older man was gone, he looked back at Sonny.    
  


“You want me to hang around?” He asked. 

Sonny nodded, faking absentmindedness as he did so. “Yeah, hang around,” He did a double-take as if only now noticing Paulie’s appearance. “You all right?”

Paulie nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, I'm fine.”

“Yeah?” Sonny questioned as Paulie coughed into his handkerchief. “There's some food in the icebox, you hungry or anything?” 

“Nah, it's alright...thanks…” Paulie coughed again, eliciting a deeper frown from Sonny.

“How 'bout a drink?” He offered. “Have a little brandy that'll help sweat it out. Huh? Go ahead. And, have Vitalia make you a cup of coffee.”

Paulie nodded slowly, his eyes still darting around nervously, and began inching out of the room. “Alright, sure that might be a good idea…”

“Yeah, right,” Sonny hummed. A moment later, Paulie left and closed the door. Sonny whirled around to Clemenza. “I want you to take care of that sonofabitch right away. Paulie sold out the old man, that stronz'. I don't want to see him again. Make that first thing on your list, understand?”

Clemenza nodded in understanding. “Understood.” 

Sonny then turned back to Michael. “Hey, Mickey, tomorrow get a couple of guys, you go over to Luca's apartment; hang around, waitin' for him to show up…”

Tom frowned at that and shook his head while holding out a hand to quiet Sonny. “Uh maybe we shouldn't get Mike uh mixed up in this too directly,” He suggested.

Michael frowned as Sonny winced and leaned back, nodding at Tom as he did so. “Yeah, listen, uh... hang around the house on the phone an' be a big help, huh? Then Try Luca again...go'head.”

Knowing better than to anger Sonny after many a year of getting slapped upside the head for his efforts, Michael simply nodded and turned back to the phone as Tessio reentered the room with a lump of brown paper. He watched as Tessio crossed the room and deposited the package onto Sonny’s lap, his fingers still dialing the number on auto-pilot. 

Sonny sighed and pulled back the paper, only to gag and stare at the package with palpable irritation. He looked back up at the others as they peered into his lap. “What the hell is this?”

Clemenza sighed at the sight of Luca’s bulletproof vest wrapped around a couple of fish and shook his head sadly. “It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes,” He explained. 

Michael set the phone back in the receiver at those words while Sonny handed the package back to Tessio. They then started to talk again about options, when another knock at the door interrupted them. Sonny let out a noise of frustration. 

“What is it?” He demanded. The door pushed open a moment later, and Vitalia stepped out from behind it with an apologetic smile. 

“I’m so sorry about this, Sonny,” She apologized quickly, seeing the irritation on the eldest Corleone’s face. “Sandra and Theresa just want to know if you all would like your food now or later.”

Sonny sighed and nodded. “Yeah, bring it in now.” Vitalia nodded and began to exit the room. “And, Lia?” She paused and looked back over at Sonny. “Stop by the store tomorrow with a couple of guys and take anything out that’s valuable. Anything at all.”

Tom and Michael frowned at that. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Something tells me Sollozzo wouldn’t have a problem shooting a woman if she’s connected to the family,” Tom pointed out. 

“Besides, Pops never wanted women mixed up in these affairs, it’s too dangerous,” Michael argued. 

Sonny rolled his eyes at them and pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s why Lia will take a couple of guys with her. It’s not like I’m sending her alone,” He looked over at Vitalia, “Bring the food in and then spend the night in your room here, got it?”

Vitalia nodded. “Okay.” She left the room and came back a short while later with a stack of plates, some silverware, and a few plates of food with a pot of coffee and some cups on a tray. “This should be enough to last the night.”

She looked up from where she’d set it on the desk to see Sonny smiling at her.

“You’re a saint, Lia,” He complimented while beginning to fix himself a plate, “Now, go get some rest.”

Vitalia nodded again. “You’ve got it, Sonny,” She turned and started making her way out of the room. “Goodnight, everyone.”

There was a chorus of goodnights that followed her, and she winced when she realized Michael’s had not been among them. Bracing herself for what would most likely be a long discussion later, she climbed the stairs to the second level and began checking on the kids while Sandra and Theresa tidied up in the kitchen. As she went from room to room, she was happy to discover that all of the kids were soundly asleep, even Sandra’s new baby, and decided to go to the bathroom to wash up for bed. 

About half an hour later, Vitalia emerged from the bathroom in Connie’s nightgown and robe from when she still lived in this house, freshly cleaned, and crossed the hall to her old bedroom. Her hand pushed the door open with relative ease, but before she could reflect further on the room, her eyes were drawn to the figure of Michael sitting on the edge of her bed with a tense expression. 

“Sonny didn’t want to talk anymore?” She asked while shutting the door behind her. Michael watched her every move as she made her way further into the room. “Michael?”

He took a deep breath and let it out. “I,” He paused and tried to force himself to relax as his hands clenched into fists atop his knees. “I couldn’t be in there anymore. I got too angry at Sonny and was about to punch him in the face,” He admitted. 

Vitalia’s eyes widened at that confession. “What are you angry at Sonny about?” She wondered, her lips pursing into a frown. Michael looked up at her incredulously. 

“Lia, please tell me you aren’t that dense,” He pleaded, his eyes filled with desperation. Vitalia raised an eyebrow as she quickly concluded exactly why he felt as angry as he did. 

“You’re worried about me,” She deduced, “And angry at Sonny for ignoring you and Tom in the study.”

Michael nodded earnestly and stood to grab her shoulders and shake her lightly, which she did not resist. Instead, she looked up at him with a contemplative gaze. “I am furious,” He whispered slowly, his voice turning ice-cold where Sonny’s would erupt into an inferno of shouting. “So incredibly furious with him, and I am terrified for you.”

Vitalia didn’t say anything as he took a deep breath before continuing. “You shouldn’t be mixed up with any of this,” He shook her shoulders, “Why aren’t you going against him?!” He finally shouted. 

She watched as his shoulders shook with repressed rage and slowly reached up to pry his fingers from her shoulders before holding his hands in hers. “Michael, as of right now, Sonny is Don Corleone. He is the head of this family until your father is healed, and that means I answer to him.”

Michael growled with frustration and ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re not his sister or a lackey he can order around!” He exclaimed, spit flying from his mouth to accompany the fury. “You’re my father’s godchild, and he should have more respect for you than this.”

He released her shoulders and stared at her as she watched him patiently, having dealt with way worse bouts of anger from Sonny and even from Tom in the last four years. Finally, she moved to stand in front of him again. 

“Michael,” She grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. “When I go to the store tomorrow, I will be incredibly careful. I will send the guards in to retrieve everything and will remain in the car unless I am absolutely needed.”

Michael said nothing, instead searching her face for any hint of a lie within it. When he found none, he pulled up his arms and pulled her into a tight hug. “You promise?” He checked, worry still swirling in his gut under all the anger he was feeling. 

Vitalia nodded against his shoulder. “I promise,” She murmured. “Believe it or not, I don’t exactly want to get shot and be taken away from you.”

She felt his grip tighten on her at his words, and before she knew it she was being tucked into bed by a worried Michael who only left her room when she repeated his promise two more times. Finally assuaged, Michael then went to his own room where he barely caught a minute of sleep between all the worries consuming his mind. 

<>

The next day found Michael wandering around the house aimlessly while Vitalia continued to help out until he decided to go outside and sit on a bench in the yard to clear his mind. It was there that he remained for a while, trying to ignore the anxiety building with each minute that brought them closer to when Vitalia would inevitably go on her mission. 

Eventually, midway through the afternoon, he was stirred from his pondering by the voice of Clemenza shouting from the kitchen. “Hey, Mike! Hey, Mikey?”

Michael looked up as the man peered outside. “Yeah?” He shouted back. Clemenza gestured at the kitchen. 

“You're wanted on the telephone,” He explained. Michael frowned and stood from the bench, wincing at how stiff his muscles were, and went inside. 

“Who is it?” He asked. Clemenza shrugged and pointed at the phone. 

“Some girl…” He murmured. Michael tensed and looked around to see that Vitalia was not there before picking up the phone. 

“Hello, Kay?” He greeted. Kay exhaled on the other end of the line. 

“I just saw the paper,” She began, causing Michael to grit his teeth, “How's your father?” 

He took a deep breath. “He's good. He's gonna make it.”

Kay smiled on the other end. “That’s good,” She murmured. There was a long pause before she cleared her throat and whispered, “I love you.”

The blood left Michael’s face faster than he could have believed was possible. He could feel his mouth flapping like a fish as he struggled to respond before settling with, “Huh?”

“I love you,” She repeated, more than loud enough for those that were near him to hear. Kay listened for his response but was rewarded with silence. “Michael?” Silence. “Tell me you love me…”

Michael finally regained his composure enough to formulate a response, the sound of a door shutting seeming to flip a switch. “I can't talk…”

Kay was silent for several moments. “Can't you say it?” She eventually pleaded, tears audibly choking her voice. 

“Eh…” Michael looked over at the clock. “I'll see you tonight,” He decided, unsure of how to handle this one. 

“Okay,” Kay whispered before the line went dead and Michael placed the phone in the receiver. Clemenza raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Hey, Mikey, why don't you tell that nice girl you love her?” He remarked, seeming to be joking but Michael could see the lack of mirth in his expression. He opened his mouth to reply, but Sonny cut him off as he entered the kitchen. 

“Because Mikey here isn’t an idiot,” Sonny snapped. “There’s no way a girl like her could ever be a part of the family and he knows it.” 

Michael glared at him and opened his mouth to retort, only for Sonny to hold up a hand. 

“Think of it this way, Mike,” He explained. “Vitalia understands how to behave and live like one of us, she’s lived her whole life doing it. This Kay girl, she doesn’t understand in the slightest and she never will.”

Michael couldn’t exactly argue with that point, and Sonny knew it. 

“You only have one option here between the two of them, so go pick that one and stop being stupid,” Sonny ordered before turning to Clemenza. “ How's Paulie?”

Clemenza scoffed while Michael moved to sit at the table, consumed by Sonny’s points. “Oh, Paulie? Won't see him no more…”

Sonny nodded in response and then frowned as Michael stood as suddenly as he’d sat down and walked out of the kitchen. “Where are you going?”

“To the city.” Sonny scoffed and looked over at Clemenza. 

“No... I wanna send some bodyguards with him...alright?” Clemenza nodded while Michael scowled. 

“No, I'm just going to the hospital to see pop.” Sonny rolled his eyes. 

“Never mind; send somebody with him,” He ordered. Clemenza sighed and gestured at Michael. 

“He'll be alright. Sollozzo knows he's a civilian,” He pointed out. Sonny faltered at that and looked over at Michael.

“Alright; be careful, huh?”

“Yes, sir…” Michael muttered as he exited. He then paused. “Where’s Vitalia?”

Sonny scoffed. “She left right before your call came through, the bodyguards went with her too.” There was no response except for Michael exiting the house, at which point Sonny turned back to Clemenza. “Send somebody with him, anyway.” 

Clemenza chuckled and moved to respond, but the phone cut him off with a shrill ring. Sonny rolled his eyes and reached out to answer it. 

“Who is it?” He demanded. 

“Sonny! Sonny, you have to come here now!” Vitalia shouted, her voice shrill and ragged. Sonny’s eyes widened. 

“What happened?! Where are you?” Sonny asked harshly while gesturing for Clemenza to get the car ready. Vitalia sobbed on the other end of the line. 

“There was a drive-by,” She stammered, “Matteo went down, I’m stuck in the store with Oscar and we don’t know if more are coming. Please Sonny,” She let out a sob, “Please, you have to come now!”

“Lia, Lia, I’m on my way,” Sonny assured her before hanging up the phone and storming over to the door, where Tessio waited with his coat. “Son of a bitch!” He screamed as they drove away from the house as quickly as they could. 


	5. Strictly Business

Sonny threw open the car’s door as it came to a halt outside Cappellaio de Lionetti, noting with rage the broken windows and bullet holes in the door as he made his way into the store. He stormed through the hat shop, his hands tightly clenched into fists, and turned to where Vitalia’s office was. His hand reached out to push open the door, but it was immovable. He looked through the glass paneling and saw that Vitalia had pushed the desk in front of it somehow. 

He raised his fist and began pounding on the door. “Lia!” He shouted. “Lia, it’s Sonny! Open the door!”

Inside the office, Vitalia was curled in a corner, her body tucked around a pile of papers and other valuables, shaking. Next to her, Oscar Rossi was laying on the floor, dead. Tears streamed down her face as she stared at his corpse, which had come to be through a gunshot wound they hadn’t noticed until it was too late. 

Sonny looked over at Clemenza. “I’m going to have to break the glass,” He muttered. 

Clemenza nodded in understanding and watched as Sonny dashed over to the fabric storeroom before coming back with his hand wrapped in wool. He immediately moved back in front of the door, pulled his hand back, and punched the glass. Inside, he heard a soft cry and a sob. 

“Lia! It’s just Sonny,” He assured her, “It’s just Sonny.”

He felt his heart clench when Vitalia didn’t respond, and quickly threw several successive punches at the glass until it shattered. With a grimace, he pulled off the fabric from around his fist and began to climb into the office, only to freeze at the sight in the room. 

Laying on the floor, with a massive bloodstain next to him, was Oscar Rossi. His eyes were blank and unseeing, his chest didn’t rise or fall, he was well and truly dead. Sonny averted his eyes from the body to Vitalia, who had tucked herself away in the safest corner she could have picked. 

“Lia?” He called out while climbing completely through and sliding off the desk to dash over to her. His eyes widened as he drew closer. “Oh… Lia.”

Her entire right side was sprayed with blood, presumably from where Matteo had his brains blown out right next to her. Sonny reached out and touched her shoulder, flinching when she looked up with the same man’s blood streaking across her face, brighter than lipstick. Her own eyes were vacant, but he knew this vacancy and it wasn’t death. This was shock. 

“Lia, I’m going to take you back to the house now,” He whispered. “Okay?”

There was no response except for the tightening of Vitalia’s fingers on the papers and valuables in her hands. Sonny looked down and winced at the white knuckled grip, his own fingers coming down to gently pry her own away from the papers. Thankfully, she didn’t put up much of a fight, and soon the papers were set on the ground next to her. 

“Okay, c’mere, Lia,” Sonny ordered while pulling Vitalia’s body into his arms. He looked over at Clemenza and bent down to pick up the papers in his other hand. “Call the house, let my mother know what happened.”

Clemenza nodded and went off to do that while the other two bodyguards moved to hold their arms out, which Sonny deposited Vitalia into before climbing back through the door. “I’ll also get some people to come here and clean this up.”

Sonny nodded and adjusted his grip on the papers while he walked out to the car, which he entered before the bodyguards tucked Vitalia in with him. With a miserable sigh, Sonny pulled the petite woman against his side and prayed to God that there would be some form of forgiveness for putting her in this situation. 

<>

When they arrived at the house, Sonny was sure he was going to die in the foyer and his body would never be found. This was a common after-effect of facing Carmela Corleone’s temper, which had been stoked to an inferno of fury when she had received Clemenza’s call about what had occurred at the hat shop. 

“Stupido ragazzo! Come osi ferire la mia e la figlioccia di tuo padre!” Sonny winced at her shouting and sent a desperate look at Tom, who quickly took the papers and went into the study rather than help him. “Questa attività non ha posto per una donna e tu lo sai, Santino. Sono stupito, assolutamente stupito da questa idiozia!”

Her words died on her tongue as the bodyguards came in, supporting Vitalia’s body between them as she hung like a limp fish coated in another man’s blood. She looked between her and her son, horror filling her eyes as she took in her goddaughter’s absolutely destroyed state. Sonny, however, took advantage of her silence. 

“Ma, Ma, Lia is in shock and needs help. Can you take care of her while I get her a doctor?” He pleaded. 

Carmela broke from her trance and scoffed while she shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose before moving to take her goddaughter in her arms. “Non sei troppo vecchio per un pestaggio, Santino,” She warned him. “And your father will certainly hear about this.”

Before Sonny could respond, Carmela had turned on her heel and was guiding Vitalia upstairs while shouting for someone to start running a hot bath. She still wanted to scream at her son, but she knew that there was only so long she could throw a fit before it became disrespectful. So, she moved on to doing what she did best, taking care of people. 

“Andrà tutto bene, figlioccia,” Carmela murmured while taking Vitalia to the bathroom, within which Sandra was running a hot bath. “You’re safe now.”

A moment later Carmela had Vitalia sitting on the toilet with the seat closed while she extricated her goddaughter from her blood-stained clothes. Unfortunately, it seemed they would be unable to save the coat with the amount of dried blood and, upon closer inspection, brain matter as well, coating it. The rest of her clothes were salvageable, however, and Carmela sent Sandra downstairs with them to get them cleaned before helping her now nude goddaughter into the tub. 

“How…” Vitalia’s voice was hoarse as she forced herself to speak, the heat from the water having given her enough of a shock to send her back to reality, at least for a moment. “How is the Don?” She croaked. 

Carmela sighed and took a small bowl, filled it with water, and poured it over Vitalia’s head to remove the dried blood from her hair. She felt tears sting her eyes as the water became faintly stained pink. “Il dottore ha detto che starà bene, che non dobbiamo preoccuparci,” She replied softly. 

Vitalia hummed softly at the back of her throat before drawing her knees up against her chest and leaning forward to rest her forehead atop them. Carmela let out another soft sigh and continued to rinse out her goddaughter’s hair. After a while, Vitalia was led out of the bath and into her old bedroom, where Carmela helped her into a simple dress before tucking her under the covers. 

“I’m going to have to talk to the cops, aren’t I?” She mumbled tiredly as her head fell back against the plush pillows behind her. Carmela nodded with a mildly irritated expression. “That’s going to be a pain.”

“Sonny will take care of it,” Her godmother assured her before pulling away. “Now, I’m going to make you some coffee and bring you a bit of bread. It’s better to throw something up than nothing at all if you get sick later.”

Her goddaughter nodded and watched her leave with heavy, tired eyes that were seconds away from falling closed. However, the reappearance of Carmela as well as the arrival of a doctor alongside Sonny woke her up once again. 

“Miss Lionetti,” The doctor greeted with a gracious bow of his head. “How are you feeling?”

Vitalia sighed and propped herself higher up on the pillows. “Fine, just a bit shaken up,” She winced as her body ached harshly. “And I’m pretty stiff.”

The doctor nodded. “I can give you something for the pain, but otherwise you’ll just need to rest as best you can.”

Sonny and Vitalia shared a look, knowing anything he’d give her for the pain would be more trouble than it was worth. The eldest Corleone son shook his head and began leading the doctor from the room. 

“Thank you very much, but she’ll be fine,” He muttered.

As they walked out, Carmela carefully deposited a cup of coffee and a plate of bread on the nightstand next to her goddaughter. Vitalia smiled in response and reached out to take the cup in her hands and take a gentle sip of the dark liquid within. 

“Grazie,” She whispered between sips. 

Carmela smiled and patted Vitalia’s shoulder gently before taking her leave. Behind her, Vitalia let out a soft, shuddering breath and forced herself to finish the food before falling into a fitful sleep, plagued with thoughts of Michael’s impending wrath when he discovered what had happened. 

<>

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city in a hotel room, Michael stared at Kay across their impromptu dinner. When he had arrived, he had initially planned on just ending things and leaving, but Kay deserved better than that. Despite how little he now felt for her, he wouldn’t be an ass and cast her aside without a conversation. 

His thoughts halted as Kay’s eyes met his and a flicker of pain crossed them. Their emerald green dulled to a sad jade and her lip quivered slightly. Michael took a deep breath. 

“Kay-”

“Please,” Her breath shuddered. “Please, Michael, don’t,” She took a moment to carefully dab at her wet eyes. “Don’t make my fears a reality, not right now.”

Michael shook his head. “Kay, I’m not going to do this anymore,” His eyes were sharp and focused on the woman in front of him. “It’s not fair to you, to me or to-”

“Don’t say her name,” Kay’s voice had grown more desperate. “Please, Michael, let me pretend that you’re not leaving me for someone better, that I wasn’t somehow inadequate for you.”

“Kay,” He repeated firmly. “I’m going to be honest with you, as I should have been from the beginning.” 

She shook her head, unable to stop the tears from falling now. The last thing she wanted to hear was that Michael had gone to his family, had chosen a doormat of a Sicilian girl to be by his side, that she had tried her best for naught. Michael, however, gave her no such mercy and instead continued on. 

“Vitalia is the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with,” Michael declared, a hint of pride in his eyes that Kay tried her damndest to ignore. “She’s been my closest confidant over a decade now, and she’s-”

“From your world,” Kay finished, her heart dying a little bit more at the devotion in Michael's voice. “She’s the perfect Sicilian wife.”

And Michael, despite knowing how much it would hurt Kay, nodded. “She’s perfect for me, Kay,” He confessed. “And I will never love any woman as much as I love her.”

Silence reigned for several seconds as Kay’s shoulders shook with suppressed sobs. Then, Michael stood from his seat and grabbed his coat, pulling it on with ease. Kay’s eyes snapped to him, heartbreak filling her expression. Michael froze for a moment, and Kay stood to stand in front of him. 

“Michael, please,” Her hands shook as she brought them up to cup his face gently, “Please, don’t do this. Don’t become one of them.”

Kay searched Michael’s expression for any hint of emotion, and couldn’t stop the sob from coming out as Michael pulled her hands away from his face. Her body curled in on itself, and Michael made his way over to the door. 

“I’m a Corleone, Kay,” He then whispered. “Always have been, always will be.”

With that, Michael Corleone disappeared, the door shutting behind him with a soft click. 

<>

When Michael arrived at his next destination he could already tell something was wrong. The hospital doors themselves were unmanned, and the building itself was nearly silent. His spine stiffened at the lack of sound, and he quickly made his way down the hallways while desperately stamping down his panic. 

Room after room sat empty and abandoned, the sight of which made Michael’s grasp on his emotions tenuous at best. The only sound to be heard was that of his shoes colliding with the cheap vinyl flooring, and his heavy breathing as he sped up the further he ran. Finally, he arrived at an office but paled at the sight of it also being empty. 

“Shit,” He cursed before turning and running down the hall and up the stairs towards his father's room. 

However, Michael paused just outside the door as he noticed there was no guard outside the Don's door. He carefully walked down to the room, his eyes darting over everything in hopes of spotting an assailant before they spotted him. Finally, he stood next to the door, and hesitated before he pushed the door open. A sigh of relief escaped him a moment later as he took in the sight of his father in the bed, breathing and seemingly alive and well. 

This relief was short-lived, though, as a nurse suddenly appeared in the doorway. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes were wide with irritation. “You're not supposed to be here now!”

Her expression soon morphed to apprehension as Michael made his way over to her. His eyes were narrowed and his hands shook with barely contained rage and fear. 

“I'm Michael Corleone...this is my father,” He stated before glancing back out into the hallway. “What happened to the guards?”

The nurse swallowed and moved around him to carefully take the Don’s vitals. “Your father just had too many visitors, they interfered with hospital service.” She looked back up. “The police made them leave about ten minutes ago.”

Michael stiffened at her words and quickly lunged for the phone, holding it up to his ear while watching his father carefully. “Ah,” He struggled to remember the extension, “Get me, ah, Long Beach-4-5620, please…”

The operator mumbled an agreement, and as Michael waited he held out a hand to stop the nurse from leaving. 

“Nurse, wait a minute. Stay here,” The line suddenly connected, forcing Michael’s attention back to the phone. “Sonny, it’s Michael. I'm at the hospital-”

“Yeah?” Sonny replied, his voice reeking confusion. 

“Listen I got here late. There's nobody here,” Michael explained hurriedly. “Nobody... no no no Tessio's men, no detectives, nobody. Papa's all alone.

Sonny let out a curse. “Don't panic we'll send somebody,” He assured his brother. 

“I won't panic!” Michael shouted before slamming the phone back onto the receiver and taking a deep breath. 

Across the room, the nurse sighed. “I'm sorry, but you will have to leave.”

But Michael wasn’t listening now. Instead, he looked between the bed and the doorway, his mind racing as he compared the two widths. “Uhh…” He looked back over at the nurse. “You and I are gonna move my father to another room. Now can you disconnect those tubes so we can move the bed out?”

The nurse gaped at him. “That's out of the question!”

Fury mounted in Michael’s heart as the clock ticked down to what he knew was inevitable. Soon enough, they wouldn’t be the only ones in this hospital, and it wouldn’t be any good company joining them. 

“You know my father?” He demanded. The nurse blinked at him. “Men are coming here to kill him. You understand? Now help me, please!”

And even the most prudent of nurses couldn’t brush that aside. So, with her help, Michael began rolling his father from the room and down the hallway until they reached an empty room in a separate ward. A soft sigh of relief escaped Michael as he released the bed frame, but it was short-lived as he moved to take a lookout position near one of the double doors leading to the hallway. 

For several seconds, there was silence. Then, footsteps. Michael could feel his heart racing as someone’s shadow appeared on the wall of the stairway. The figure of a man with a bouquet of flowers appeared. Michael’s eyes narrowed. The man frowned as he caught a glimpse of him, Michael’s fear having stopped him from hiding. With a deep breath, he walked out to meet the man. 

“Who are you?” Michael asked coolly. 

The man smiled kindly. He could not have been older than twenty-one or twenty-two. “I am Enzo, the baker. Do you remember me?” He asked, his voice innocent and naive. 

“Enzo…” Michael whispered, scanning the man’s face until it clicked. Enzo’s smile grew. 

“Yes, Enzo…” He echoed, nodding all the while. 

Michael looked past Enzo at the stairway. “You better get out of here, Enzo; there's gonna be trouble-”

Enzo’s lips turned down into a frown. “If there is trouble, I stay here to help you,” He stated. “For your father… for your father.”

With a grim expression, Michael nodded. “Alright... Listen, wait for me outside in front of the hospital. Alright?” He ordered. Enzo nodded. “I'll be out in a minute. Go ahead…”

The baker mumbled a soft agreement before he turned and left, giving Michael a quick window of time. He quickly made his way back down the hallway until he reached his father’s new room and moved to his bedside. Tears pricked at his vision, but he blinked them away and gently rested a hand on his father’s head. 

“Just lie here, Pop,” Michael felt himself relax as the Don’s eyes opened. “I'll take care of you now. I'm with you now. I'm with you…” He repeated before grabbing his father’s hand and pressing a quick kiss to it.

Unseen to him, his father smiled with a tear in his eye and couldn’t quell the wave of pride that washed over him at his son’s actions. However, he didn’t have long to dwell on it before Michael drew away and stormed downstairs, throwing open the doors and joining Enzo with a dark expression. Seconds later, the bouquet in Enzo’s hand disappeared as Michael threw it away.

“Get rid of these,” He muttered before grabbing Enzo by the collar and flipping it up to shield his face. “Come 'ere. Put your hand in your pocket like you have a gun.” He instructed. “You'll be alright.” A soft sigh escaped him. “You'll be okay…”

The sound of a car approaching forced them to turn back to the street. Michael’s eyes were ablaze as a black car slowly pulled up to the curb before stopping. The two men driving it stared at Michael and Enzo, who stared back unwaveringly. A moment later, Michael carefully reached up and undid the button of his coat, as if to reach for a gun. 

There was a tense moment where neither of them knew how this would proceed. Then, just as slowly as it had appeared, the car drove off and Michael was able to relax slightly. He turned to Enzo and sent him the smallest of smiles. 

“You did good,” He complimented. 

Enzo, however, barely heard Michael over the pounding of his heart in his ears. His fingers shook as he reached into his pockets, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter. The click of the lighter cut through the air, but it was without flames. Michael sighed at the action and quickly took the lighter, flicking it on with ease and holding it up to Enzo, who lit his cigarette before taking a few desperate drags. For a moment, there was silence. 

Then sirens erupted. Michael’s eyes widened as cop cars pulled up to the hospital and quickly shooed Enzo away, watching as the man disappeared into the building before he suddenly felt hands grab his arms. He grit his teeth as he was dragged to the team of officers standing on the sidewalk, outside the hospital’s gates. Seconds later, the leader, a police captain named McCluskey, stormed over.

“I thought I got all you guinea hoods locked up!” He roared with anger. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Michael’s eyes flashed with a cold fury. “What happened to the men who were guarding my father, Captain?”

McCluskey scoffed. “Why you little punk! What the hell are you doing telling me my business?” He moved closer, spit flying into Michael’s face the longer he spoke. “I pulled them guys off of here, eh! Now you get outta here and stay away from this hospital!”

“I'm not moving until you put some guards around my father's room,” Michael stated coolly, his eyes unwavering as they glared up at the captain.

He wasn’t listening, though. Instead, he looked over at one of his subordinates. “Phil, take him in!”

The officer didn’t obey, though. “The kid's clean, Captain,” He pointed out. “He's a war hero. He's never been busted for the rackets…”

McCluskey wouldn’t hear anymore. “Goddamn it, I said take him in!” He ordered with a shout. His face was flushed a deep red, and Michael’s eyes narrowed at the hint of urgency in the captain’s expression. 

“What's the Turk paying you to set up my father, Captain?” He wondered idly. 

The officers gasped while McCluskey’s eyes darkened with rage. He looked to the two officers now holding Michael up by his arms and clenched his fists. 

“Take a hold of him. Stand him up. Stand'im up straight,” He screamed. 

Just as the officers did as he bid, Michael stared at him with that same, unwavering expression. McCluskey hesitated for a split second, his resolve chipped slightly at the sheer lack of fear in the Sicilian’s face. But then, the anger returned in full force. 

CRACK. His fist cut clean across Michael’s jaw, breaking it with relative ease, but that wasn’t the only noise they heard. The screech of a car approaching echoed from behind them, and before the police officers could say a word they were swarmed with men. Among them, Tom Hagen stormed over and pulled Michael away with the help of two of their associates. 

“I'm the attorney for the Corleone family,” He declared coldly. “These men are private detectives hired to protect Vito Corleone. They're licensed to carry firearms. If you interfere, you'll have to appear before a judge in the morning and show cause.”

McCluskey’s eyes widened in fury, but Tom wasn’t finished. 

“If you want to investigate an incident, look into the shooting at Cappellaio de Lionetti that happened this afternoon,” Tom snarled before walking away with Michael. 

Behind them, McCluskey cursed under his breath, but Michael couldn’t focus on a single word now. The hat shop had been attacked. There had been a shooting, which meant someone was dead. Someone had to be dead. Fear filled him as he was led to the backseat of the car.

“Tom-” He started. 

“Don’t worry, Michael,” His brother muttered as the car began to drive away. “Vitalia wasn’t involved. She’s back at the house, you’ll see her once we get your jaw fixed up.”

Michael nodded and leaned back as the car streaked across New York to the nearest orthopedic surgeon the family knew they could trust. Time was of the essence now. 

<>

The next morning, Michael returned to the house at just after seven a.m. The house was quiet, with only a few people up and moving around. His eyes landed on his mother, who smiled sadly and gestured at the stairs. 

“Sta riposando, ma tu puoi tenerle compagnia,” Carmela whispered. 

Michael nodded gratefully and shed his coat before making his way up the stairs and down the hall to the room beside Connie’s, Vitalia’s room. He pushed open the door as softly as he could and felt his heart leap into his throat at the sight within. 

Vitalia was still asleep, reclining against the soft pillows as her midnight-black hair spilled out around her delicate face. Michael let out a sigh of relief, his mind having been consumed with worry for most of the night despite Tom’s efforts to placate him. Soon enough, his legs carried him across the room until he was seated on the edge of her bed, his hand coming up to gently brush a stray piece of hair from her face. 

He hadn’t been lying when he last spoke to Kay. Vitalia was the love of his life, the only person he would unconditionally trust to be with him, to support him. Michael would have been nothing without her, a shell, and being with Kay wouldn’t have brought him even a modicum of the joy Vitalia gave him. 

His lips twitched into a smile that made his face ache, but he couldn’t care less. She was safe, his father was too, and now they were free to be together without worries about unresolved feelings. They had each other, and Michael would be damned if he would ever let that go. 

A soft sound distracted him from his thoughts, and he watched as Vitalia’s eyes slowly fluttered open. His smile grew at the sight and a burst of warmth filled him as she reached up to cover his hand with hers. 

“Michael,” She whispered, worry and guilt filling her eyes. “What happened to you?” 

He shook his head slowly. “You get attacked in a drive-by and you ask if I’m okay? I might be a bit banged up, but I didn’t think it was that bad.”

Vitalia let out a tearful laugh and tugged on his arm until he leaned down to hug her tightly, her own arms wrapping around his neck. “You’re still my handsome darling,” She promised. 

Michael turned his face so that it was tucked into her neck and let himself breathe her in, the scent of her calming him more than any words could. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah,” She agreed instantly. “You’ll never not be handsome in my eyes.”

Her lover grinned at that confession and pulled away to stare into her eyes, the warmth in them filling him with more affection than he knew what to do with. So, he began using it with several gentle kisses to her forehead, cheeks, nose, and eyelids before pressing a brief yet loving kiss to her lips. Vitalia smiled up at him and let her eyes close as Michael pressed his forehead to hers. 

“You really aren’t hurt that badly?” She double-checked. Michael nodded slowly. 

“I’m fine, but Sonny won’t be once I get my hands on him,” He admitted, causing Vitalia to stiffen beneath him. 

“Michael,” She watched as he slowly sat up, “It’s not Sonny’s fault. They hit Matteo when he was holding all the valuables, there was no time to get into the car so we had to take refuge in the shop.”

The youngest Corleone son wasn’t having any of it, though. “It was his fault that you were even sent to the shop in the first place. He should have sent Clemenza or Tessio,” He muttered coldly. 

Vitalia watched him carefully, studied his shuttered expression as if he were a masterpiece of artwork. It made her heart swell with delight and pain simultaneously, to see how much he truly cared about her. He was enraged, murderous if she hazarded a guess, and it was just because of her getting caught in the crossfire of family business. It was a humbling notion, that Michael would kill, or at least want to kill, someone for her. Finally, she sighed and pushed herself up to a sitting position, and took his hands in hers. 

“Sonny could have made a better choice,” She conceded, causing Michael to look up at her. “But now is not the time to have that fight. Sollozzo is the common denominator here, we need to keep him from making things worse.”

Her eyes followed Michael carefully as he nodded slowly. “I should get down to the meeting, shouldn’t I?” He asked. 

“Yes,” Vitalia agreed without hesitation. “You need to be there, there’s only so much that this family can do without you.”

Michael hummed at that and leaned forward, pressing one last kiss to her lips before standing. “I’ll see you afterward?” He asked, a slight pleading note in his voice.

Vitalia’s lips curved into a smile. “Of course, darling,” She promised. 

With that, Michael stood from her bed and made his way out of the room, closing the door behind him before descending the staircase. When he reached the first floor, he let out an exasperated sigh at the sound of an argument behind the study doors. However, he couldn’t avoid it forever, so he pushed open the door, and winced as Sonny’s shouting assaulted his ears. 

“Hey, a hundred button men on the street twenty-four hours a day,” Sonny demanded as he hovered around Tom, “That Turk shows one hair on his ass, he's dead.”

Tom scoffed and took a seat. “Yeah?” He muttered. 

Sonny smirked. “Believe me…” He trailed off as Michael moved further into the room, his eyes widening as he took in the bruise on his brother’s face. “Hey, Michael, come're, let me look at you. You look beautiful! Beautiful! Just gorgeous!”

Michael rolled his eyes and pulled away to take a seat, anger still fresh and writhing in his guts at the sight of his overly-confident brother. Sonny didn’t care, though, and simply turned back to Tom.

“Hey, listen to this...the Turk wants to talk.” Tom looked up, his brow quirked in confusion, while Michael leaned in, listening intently. “Eh gosh...imagine the nerve of the sonofabitch, eh? Craps out last night, and wants a meetin' today…”

Tom’s lips pursed to a frown. “What did he say?” He asked. 

Sonny huffed. “What did he say...Badda-beep, badda-bap, badda-boop, badda-beep. He wants us to send Michael to hear the proposition,” He revealed with a gesture towards the youngest brother. “And the promise is, that the deal is so good, that we can't refuse. Eh…”

Tom’s frown deepened as Tessio walked into the room. “What about Bruno Tattaglia?” He reminded Sonny, who clicked his fingers. 

“That's part of the deal. Bruno cancels out what they did to my father…” He explained. 

Tom’s eyes widened. “Sonny, we ought to hear what they have to say…”

But the oldest Corleone son wasn’t having any of it. “No, no, no! No more!” He cried out, furious. “Not this time, consiglieri. No more meetin's, no more discussions, no more Sollozzo tricks. You give'em one message: I want Sollozzo. If not, it's all-out war. We go to the mattresses-”

Michael watched as Tom shot to his feet. “Some of the other families won't sit still for all-out war!” He shouted, his own frustration growing. 

“Then they hand me Sollozzo!” Sonny shot back.

Tom shook his head. “You're father wouldn't want to hear this! This is business, not personal, Sonny!”

An incredulous noise escaped Sonny. “They shot my father, they tried to kill his goddaughter, and that's business?” He demanded, not noticing the way Michael’s hands tensed into fists. “You ass…”

“Even the shooting of your father and Vitalia was business, not personal, Sonny!” Tom shouted. “Lots of people know that the hat shop is one of the more lucrative businesses your father controls, making an example of that is not personal.”

Sonny shook his head and took a seat at his father’s desk. “Well, then, business will have to suffer, alright?” Tom opened his mouth to protest, but Sonny held up a hand to silence him. “And listen, do me a favor, Tom. No more advice on how to patch things up, please. Just help me win, please, alright?”

Silence reigned for several seconds, a tense silence that was only broken by Tom finally taking a seat and pulling out some papers. “I found out about this Captain McCluskey who broke Mike's jaw-”

“What about 'im?” Sonny asked, lighting a cigarette as he spoke.

“Well, he's definitely on Sollozzo's payroll, and for big money. McCluskey has agreed to be the Turk's bodyguard,” Tom explained. Michael sighed while Sonny’s brows furrowed. “What you have to understand, Sonny, is that while Sollozzo is being guarded like this, he is invulnerable.”

All of the occupants of the study made bitter expressions at that fact. It was undeniable, and bound to cause a massive pain in the family’s ass. Tom sighed. 

“Now nobody has ever gunned down a New York police captain, never. It would be disastrous. All the Five Families would come after you, Sonny,” Tom’s voice gradually rose as he spoke, “The Corleone Family would be outcasts! Even the old man's political protection would run for cover!” His voice had peaked at a shout, one that caused even Sonny to shrink away. “So do me a favor and take this into consideration.”

Sonny didn’t say anything for a moment, until he nodded once. “Alright. We'll wait,” He agreed. 

However, defiance reared its head in his brother. “We can't wait,” Michael stated coldly. 

Tom and Sonny shared a look. “Huh?”

“We can't wait,” Michael repeated. “I don't care what Sollozzo says about a deal, he's gonna kill Pop, that's it. That's the key for him. Gotta get Sollozzo.”

Clemenza nodded slowly. “Mike is right,” He agreed.

Sonny scoffed and moved out from behind the desk to address his brother. “Lemme ask you something? What about McCluskey? Huh? What do we do with this cop here?” He asked, his eyes narrowed and lips pursed. 

Michael met his eyes, unwavering, and swimming with dangerous thoughts. “They wanna have a meeting with me, right? It will be me, McCluskey and Sollozzo.”

The other men all nodded in agreement. Sonny shifted his weight from leg to leg as he watched his brother. Behind them, Tom leaned forward with interest. 

“Let's set the meeting,” Michael decided. “Get our informers to find out where it's gonna be held. Now, we insist it's a public place...a bar, a restaurant...someplace where there's people so I feel safe.” 

He paused as Clemenza frowned. 

“They're gonna search me when I first meet them, right?” Michael asked. Sonny nodded once. “So I can't have a weapon on me then. But if Clemenza can figure a way to have a weapon planted there for me, then I'll kill 'em both,” He stated. 

There was a moment of silence, but the mocking laughter of Tessio, Clemenza, and Sonny cut across it with ease. Michael glared at them, while Tom shrugged absentmindedly. Sonny then leaned over to grin at his brother. 

“Hey, whataya gonna do, nice college boy, eh? Didn't want to get mixed up in the Family business, huh? Now you wanna gun down a police captain, why, because he slapped ya in the face a little bit? Hah?” He wondered, his tone more than a little patronizing. “Cause their guys shot at your girlfriend?”

Michael’s jaw clenched at the reminder of Vitalia, but he refused to show even a hint of anger. He’d never be able to convince Sonny if he allowed him to get in his head. Thankfully, his brother didn’t notice and continued on with his spiel. 

“What do you think this is, the Army, where you shoot 'em a mile away?” He asked incredulously. “You've gotta get up close like this and bada-bing, you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit!”

“I’m aware, Sonny,” Michael spat. “If what Tom told me is true, Ma had to clean Matteo’s brains off Vitalia’s face yesterday cause you didn’t think it through!”

Tom winced and quickly lunged to grab Sonny as he snarled and moved to deck Michael. “C’mon guys, this isn’t the time.”

Clemenza and Tessio shared an uneasy look as Sonny sneered at his brother. The man had many amazing qualities, make no mistake, but accepting he had made a mistake wasn’t one of them. And to be reminded of that mistake? Well, Sonny wasn’t the kind of man that took that lying down, no matter how seriously he had messed up. 

“Besides,” Michael continued, ignoring his brother in favor of Tom and the others. “Where does it say that you can't kill a cop?”

Tom groaned. “Come on, Mikey…” He muttered as Sonny ripped himself out of his grasp and leaned against his desk. 

Michael glared at him. “Tom, wait a minute. I'm talking about a cop that's mixed up in drugs. I'm talking about a, a, a dishonest cop, a crooked cop who got mixed up in the rackets and got what was coming to him.”

He paused and looked at Clemenza, Tessio, Tom, and Sonny individually. 

“That's a terrific story. And we have newspaper people on the payroll, don't we, Tom?” His brother nodded slowly. “And they might like a story like that.”

Tom’s expression morphed to one of deep thought. “They might, they just might…” He mumbled. 

Michael bit back a smirk at Tom’s words as his eyes moved to Sonny, who stared at him with an unnameable emotion. It was like his brother, baby Mike, had transformed into a new person in the time since he’d come back home, since Connie’s wedding. He didn’t know how to feel about it, and he certainly didn’t know how to respond to Michael’s next words. 

“It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, sorry that it's been so long. College, while wonderful, can be an immense distraction even without a pandemic happening all the while. However, I'm hoping that as the rest of the year continues and we go into 2021 that I'll be able to write more and stress out less. Thank you all so much for being such amazing readers, please leave a comment to tell me what you thought, and I hope you all have an amazing day.


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